a market of 200 million tonnes of wood pellets annually. This growth could come, he said, from the fact that only five of 27 member states are currently co-firing. The main markets in Europe for North American pellets remain the U.K., along with Belgium and the Netherlands. Future growth outside of Europe will come from Asia, particularly Japan, which has recently introduced a generous feed-in tariff for re-newable electricity generation. Despite recent hype about the South Korean market, Murray told the audience that he’s not sure when it will open up, al-though he was optimistic that four million tonnes of wood pellets could be exported by 2020. Interestingly, Murray noted that for the first time the U.S. has surpassed Canada in the export of pellets to Europe, according to data from the first six months of 2012. Prices for wood pellets are currently higher in the U.S. than in Canada, said Murray, most likely due to higher shipping costs in this country. Murray also updated attendees on the status of the Tilbury plant in the U.K., which suffered a devastating fire earlier this year, affecting the export market, since it was expected to have used 2.5 million tonnes over the last 18 months. Murray said it was hoped the plant would be back on line in August. There are challenges ahead, particularly recent efforts to discredit biomass as being dirtier than coal. “The wood pellet industry exists because bioenergy is carbon neutral,” said Murray, and “regardless of facts, if society comes to disbelieve that, then our industry will be in grave jeopardy. “We need to counter misinformation and support positive information campaigns.” Murray said WPAC is working on a proj-ect to research biomass emissions that will be scientifically peer reviewed and should be released later this year. Carbon Debt Project participants include: WPAC, USIPA, European Pellet Association, the Danish Energy Association, along with Drax, Elec-ÌÀ>Li]Ê,7�d;]Ê�d;" Ê>`Ê6>ÌÌiv>°ÊU Canadian BIOMASS 23
Canadian Biomass September/October 2012: Page 23
