The end of pellets as we know them?

[MainePellethead]

Hmm.... if they want all the sawdust....then what happens to pellets?


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[jtakeman]

Sure isn't going to make them any cheaper is it? I suppose there are enough trees to harvest from the beatle killed wood to go around. But for how long?

Maybe buying this multifuel stove will payoff sooner than I though! Can you say switchgrass or straw pellets. Or just plain old corn if need be.

just my 2
jay

 

[F350R]

Ok so lets start building and investing in saw dust / oil plants just to go bust like the Ethanol plants have done. At least the price of corn has come back to reality the price of heating this year will be less than have what it was last year. Even the beetle kill pellets are not that much of a bargin @ $250 / ton. The only advantage is there is no tax on them. I will say that Rocky Mountain Pellet Inc has a quality product with very little dust in the bag and the bags are a nice quality heavy mil plastic that doesn't rip or tear easily.

 

[Clay H]

I think they have a showballs chance in hell of getting the grant...besides 50 million would build a shack for such a plant.
They would need 10 times that to build a plant of any substancial size.

 

[MainePellethead]

50 mil for starters.....if the paper mills here see a windfall they will hop on that chance sure as crap. Paper companies in the past have been big investors in Maine and Canada....if they see $$ not only to make but to get rid of their waste cheaply they will invest. However....the local paper said more than this particular article. It does include farm waste, sewer sludge etc etc.

Theres a plant in Old Town Maine already in the final stages of getting a 30 million dollar grant so the 50 million for Gorham is not far fetched....

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I think they have a showballs chance in hell of getting the grant...besides 50 million would build a shack for such a plant.
They would need 10 times that to build a plant of any substancial size.

 

[peirhead]

looks like another flavour of biomass gasification..Coal gassification was used to power cars during WW2....there are woodstoves using this principle and I believe the Europa pellet stove works on this basis as well...nothin new about the concept but some pretty clever applications (Particularly the Europa as example) using the principles to get maximum use of the fuel. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas

Maybe we should buy Turbo Stoves...see: http://www.journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/TurboStove.pdf

 

[hossthehermit]

Looks to me like if they get the grant, the top execs get a big bonus, the company goes bankrupt, and WE are scammed out of another $50 million . Can you say "stimulus"? I thought you could.
On the other hand, if I'm wrong, you'll see more mills use the Athens process, and go w/ whole tree chipping. BUT, that's just MY opinion.

 

[Gweeper64]

Hmm.... if they want all the sawdust....then what happens to pellets?


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If there is anything to this, I can see Irving trying to form partnerships with the mills in ME and the Maritimes. They've got their hand in everything energy related these days up there.

I do wonder how cost effective it would be. How much oil can you get out of 10 pounds of sawdust vs biodiesel from a few square feet if algae or a bushel of soy, or jatropha, rapeseed or other renewable sources.