ABSTRACT
Wood pellets are usually manufactured using by-products from the timber industry, namely sawmills and joinery workshops, although other sources such as arboreal cuttings and sustainable forestry are also viable. The availability of particular sources varies between regions and countries; however, sawmills continue to be the primary supplier of raw materials for the pellet industry. Ideally, raw materials should be sourced locally to avoid the additional cost and carbon emissions associated with transport over long distances. While pellets are cheaper to transport per kilowatt of user output than wood chips, this is not the case when compared with oil or gas delivery. There are examples where the radius for local pellet supply is over 500km (310 miles), but this is not ideal. In 2006, the demand for pellets increased enormously as a result of rising oil prices. At this time, problems in the supply of raw materials were encountered by many pellet producers; even those with their own sawmills simply couldn’t find enough raw material to satisfy rising demand. Production has risen enormously since then in all regions, so it is to be hoped that the problem will not arise again.
