Prepared within the work of the IEA Bioenergy Agreement Task 40, researchers from Finland, Italy, the Netherlands and Brazil note in the report that recent policy and market changes have stimulated a rapidly increasing demand for biomass pellets. However, despite their high potential and growing demand, no studies at a global level with a specific focus on wood pellets markets have been carried out before.
The new study provides an overview of the most important aspects of this booming market: the development of wood pellet technologies; the key drivers and policy contexts in the main markets; a sketch of different regional markets (Europe, North America and the emerging wood pellet industry in Latin America and Asia) with their respective pellet production, consumption and trade patterns as well as a comparison of pellet prices and other heating/power sources; and insight into solid forest industry by-products. The report concludes with an evaluation of the global raw-material potential for wood pellets from sawdust.