Wood pellet production has potential for Mississippi state
Mississippi’s forest industry is poised to take advantage of an old technology that turns sawmill residues into environmentally friendly energy sources for heat and electricity. Wood pellets are made of the waste products of lumber production, and they can be burned for heat in homes and used to produce energy for industry. The knowledge and technology to make wood pellets have been around for centuries.
David Jones, a researcher in Mississippi State University’s Forest and Wildlife Research Center, said wood pellets have been made and used in the United States since the 1970s. The market for wood pellets has grown in the past decade, pushed by the Kyoto Protocol signed in Japan in 1997. This protocol took effect in 2005 and set binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“The countries that signed on had to produce a certain percentage of their energy from carbon-neutral materials,” Jones said. “According to the protocol, wood pellets fit the bill.”
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Vyborgskaya Cellulose and Ekman & Co collaborate on the world's largest wood pellet plant
Vyborgskaya Cellulose is building the world's largest wood pellet plant at its facility in Russia near the border with Finland. Production capacity will be over 900,000 tons per year. Construction of the plant is underway and productionis planned to start in the 3Q of 2010, the company said in a press release received by Lesprom Network. Vyborgskaya Cellulose has appointed Ekman & Co to be its exclusive sales agent. In addition to sales, Ekman & Co will also assist Vyborgskaya Cellulose with services in finance, risk management, logistics and administration.
The raw material for pellets consists primarily of logs from Russia and Belarus, which is partly FSC-certified. The timber will be supplied to the plant by rail.
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Precer Bioracer: car on woodpellets
 Precer, a Swedish company developing biomass vehicle powerplants, has released a biofuel series hybrid vehicle called the Bioracer. The powertrain consists of a wood pellet burner which acts as the heat source for a stirling engine generator. The stirling engine charges the traction batteries, which in turn drive an electric motor to power the Bioracer. Precer is also experimenting with steam turbines, and claims to have a new engine concept under development that could replace the stirling engine currently in use.
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Sweden consumes 20% of world wood pellet production
The decision by EU to use a minimum of 20% renewable energy by 2020 has driven a rapid increase in wood pellet production in Europe. Sweden, Germany, Denmark and the UK are expected to have the fastest growth in consumption the coming 10 years, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly.
Demand for wood pellets and investments in pellet plants continue to grow despite the global financial crises and tight credit markets. In some countries, the current slowdown in the economy has actually had a positive effect on the biomass industry because politicians have often favored bio energy and pellet-heating projects in governmentally funded economic stimulus packages.
The bio energy sector is attracting a lot of attention from the forest industry, timberland owners and, increasingly, from interests with limited past participation in the forest resources sector; many of these companies have historically have been in the business of fossil fuels.
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Chemical composition of wood
1. general composition
Wood pellets are made of wood, so there chemical composition is of course the same as dry cord wood. Dry wood is build primarily out the following compounds (in % dry weight):
- cellulose 40-50%
- lignin: 16-25% in hardwood - 23-33% in softwood
- hemi-cellulose: 20-30% in hardwood - 15-20% in hardwood
- other compounds (water, resins,...) 5-30%
- minerals 0,1-3%
 The actual structure of wood is formed by the fiberlike structure of cellulose (and hemi-cellulose). Lignin forms the binding agent between these fiberlike structures.
It is in fact the same principle as is used in reinforced concrete.
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