Is It Possible For Wood Pellets Cost To Be Controlled?

The cost of wood pellets varies depending on several factors, these include fuel quality, available supplies and demand. All different types and forms of wood residues can be upgraded into wood pellets, however the quality of the residue will affect the cost of the pellets. So what are the various wood pellet grades?

Premium Pellets Are The Most Costly

Premium pellets are the highest grade of wood pellet fuel, and hence have the highest cost. Premium pellets use only specific wood resources, and the wood must be clear from bark as this can increase the ash content of the fuel. Premium wood pellets have the lowest ash and moisture percentage, and therefore produce the highest heat value with the least maintenance. Therefore they demand the highest cost.

Lower Grade Wood Pellets Are Cheaper

As stated many other grades of wood resources can be processed into fuel pellets, wood chippings from tree surgeons for example. These wood pellets will contain bark, and will have a higher ash content. The higher ash content should lower the cost of the wood pellets compared to premium pellets. However the ash content will require more maintenance and also some pellet stoves and boilers cannot efficiently handle higher ash content wood pellets.

Other wood resources need to be used instead of simply producing premium pellets, as premium pellets cannot meet the market potential that wood pellets offer. As the wood pellet market continues to grow, if only premium pellets are offered which are produced from limited resources, the cost of pellets will increase as demand outweighs supply. Wood residues which are fast growing, and would be ideal for fuel pellets are willow, or more specifically short rotation coppice willow. The willow will return very high yields in a three year rotation, and can produce wood pellets with an ash percentage only slightly higher than premium pellets. When purchasing a pellet stove or boiler purchase a unit which can handle a higher ash content so you can potentially take advantage of cheaper fuels.

The Wood Pellet Shortage Leasons

Within recent years there was a pellet shortage of premium pellets, this caused the cost of pellet to rise. The shortage was due to a lack of raw material supply, as the home construction market crashed. This is a prime example why more wood materials need to be used for wood pellet production, so wood supply is not based on such a limited resource of wood. This would keep the cost of wood pellets more stable, and create a market where more wood residue can be utilized.

The Wood Pellet Production Guide

Producing quality wood pellets is a skilled process. Large scale and small scale wood pellet production is growing, and more people are interested in the equipment and process knowledge required. At PelHeat we produce small mobile wood pellet machines. We receive many requests for information on how the wood pellet process works, and we therefore developed the wood pellet production guide. This guide has been developed to introduce you to the world of making pellets to understand the issues. Please click the link below for your free guides.

The Wood Pellet Production Guide © PelHeat Ltd - Is It Possible For Wood Pellets Cost To Be Controlled?