Viridis Energy Inc. has been experiencing exponential growth in North America over the past three years and is now exporting premium Okanagan wood pellets to Italy.

  

The growing demand for biomass provides a tremendous opportunity for Viridis' wood biomass growth throughout Europe and the world. Having already anchored ourselves as the premier wood biomass provider in North America, now is the perfect time for us to develop our presence in the competitive international market.

  

Biomass has taken on a more significant role in recent years. Our premium softwood pellets are in high demand worldwide as coal plants are actively moving toward a co-firing approach or completely converting their plants to run entirely on biomass. We cannot continue to rely on fossil fuels and Viridis has the ideal fibre to supply biomass for efficient and clean conversion from coal for energy.

 

We are pleased to present Okanagan Pellet Company's new bag design. The new bag has now been released into the market and we are eager to hear your feedback.

  

We're on a mission to enhance the pellet market to bring you the perfect pellet with accomplished service. This is not simply "out with the old, in with the new" strategy. Our product is still the same, super premium softwood pellets, but with a new look in a quality bag.

  

While the bag function is the same, it is made with a high quality film, displays the pellets lab results and is simply a lot better looking. You will also notice the various pellet uses illustrated near the bottom half of the bag highlighting the pellets various uses for animal bedding, heat and moisture absorption.  

  

The Pellet Fuels Institute (PFI) is soon to release a new pellet standard that will include third-party verification for compliance. This will be the first of its kind and will provide a new label for bags of pellet fuel, illustrating adherence. "The third-party verification will offer another aspect of quality control", according to John Crouch, director of public affairs for PFI. The new label will display that there is a quality control program in place and the product is periodically audited.

  

In addition to the periodic verification currently used, PFI's new standards tighten up the length and diameter parameters and specify a 1% ash content limit in order to be classified as premium fuel. However, there still is no energy components specified in their standards.

  

While we appreciate that PFI is attempting to standardize the pellet quality, without emphasizing the heat value as expressed by the BTU/h, the new standards provide little value. Excluding the BTU/h in fuel prevents consumers from being able to equally compare the quality of fuel between manufacturers. After all, the heat value is the core product consumers are seeking.

    

PFI fuel standards have always been voluntary and non-members have been welcome to participate. PFI has been composing its standards for the past three years while keeping standards consistent with that of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which is also working on pellet fuel criteria.

   

PFI will begin implementing the standards in the spring, once the third-party inspectors are in place.

  

 To find out more, please visit pelletheat.org.

Bioenergy as an Investment Opportunity

If you are asking the question, "why invest

in biomass and renewable energy?", let me provide you some information to assist you in making the great investment decision. Rapid growth is projected straight through to 2020 for the wood pellet industry, with the global legislation and energy diversification.

 

Biomass will help to meet renewable energy targets worldwide. The investment in biomass rose from an average of $44 million per quarter in 2004 to an average of $1.57 billion per quarter in 2006, to a whopping $3.42 billion in Q2 2009 being invested (New Energy Source, July 2009). 

  

If we look at the wood pellet market directly, wood pellet consumption has grown rapidly with Europe leading the way. Annual pellet consumption in Europe rose from 1.6 million tonnes in 2001 to 6.8 million tonnes in 2008 and has now reached more than 9 million tonnes and continues to grow. The growth projections on the low side are 3 - 8% for residential consumption of wood pellets in expected to grow upwards to 9% in the residential market and 3% in the industrial market with stimulation due to legal and regulatory changes.

  

The conclusions that can be drawn are that the wood pellet market is heading towards an international commodity market. Tremendous developments have been made over the past 5 to 10 years in biotechnology. Finally, the existing biofuel technologies can be deployed in an economically and environmentally friendly manner. The warning I would provide is that investment in the waste to renewable energy sector needs a lot of knowledge and project development time before significant returns can be recognized. Look for experienced international companies, there are a number of interesting proven companies and state of the art technologies in the art technologies in the refuse derived fuels market.

  

President Obama outlined his goals for increasing clean energy in his State of the Union address which was released January 25th. Any plan to reduce carbon emissions and focus on obtaining 80% of U.S. energy from "clean sources" by 2035 is to be encouraged. It is a visionary plan but the devil is in the details.

  

Investing in technology innovations in biomedical research, IT and clean energy technology is a means of attaining that goal. At present, renewable fuels, including hydro power, solar, wind, geothermal and biomass make up approximately 10% of electricity production in the U.S., with nearly 7% coming from hydro power.

  

Two major objectives set out in Obama's plan are to decrease dependency on coal power by 50% and decrease the gasoline consumption from automobiles by calling for 1 million electric vehicles to be on the road by 2015. The planned target to boost the number of hybrid and electric cars could be an effective first step in the transportation side but do we have the political will and ability to pull together and actually achieve it. 

  

The main issue seen in the Obama's plan is the White House's "working definition" of clean energy, which includes nuclear power, that has no emissions during operation, natural gas and clean coal in the mix, along with wind, solar and biomass. Compared to coal, natural gas has at least half the carbon emissions as burning coal, with fewer pollutants and no mercury. However, natural gas is not the final answer; it is a step in the right direction.

  

The real question is the inclusion of so called "clean coal" which involves the recapture of liquid carbon dioxide and safe storage. However, it still releases immense toxins and provides its own unique problems.

 

Nuclear power, which at the time of Obama's proposal was broadly supported; although, it has significant problems of disposal of radioactive waste, which complicates the process. This waste (fuel rods) can remain toxic for thousands of years. It remains to be seen if the recent Japan nuclear plant disaster will have a long term impact on its suitability as a significant answer to our energy needs.

  

From my perspective, biomass and in particular, a sustainable "carbon neutral" wood pellet industry will have a growing significance in the conversion process to more green energy  solutions to today's energy needs, both in the transition from coal (co-firing) and as a domestic fuel in its own right. Canada has the potential to supply high quality wood pellets that are more attractive to many markets, both domestic as well as export to Europe and the Far East.

Okanagan Pellet Company is based in Kelowna, BC., the heart of the Okanagan. Specializing in wood pellets, the company has access to the largest supply of quality wood fibre in all of Canada. Okanagan Pellets mission is to provide premium quality wood biomass to a global network. We manufacture our wood pellets to exacting standards using strictly 100% softwood fibre. Okanagan Pellet Company is owned and operated by Viridis Energy Inc., a publicly traded company. For more information, please visit OkanaganPellets.com