When a couple of the HHT executives came to our shop a couple of months ago they asked us if we were going to be attending Harman's annual dealer meeting. We said, "No. Because the PFI had sent out their notice of annual meeting months before, and by the way why would Harman book their meeting when the PFI has theirs?" The response stopped me in my tracks. "PFI- What is it that they do, again?" Unfortunately, in many ways I agree with his assessment that the PFI is disjointed, unorganized, and in many cases ineffectual, but I would have liked to see a more proactive response of having industry reps get more involved to help get it on the right path than having them mock it and walk away. He is a good guy, don't get me wrong, it just wasn't what I hoped to hear.
So, off to muggy South Carolina for the meeting. There were probably approximately 250 people in attendance. This has grown impressively. According to one long time member they started back in Missouri in the early 1990's with six people meeting in a hotel room. In attendance were mostly fuel manufacturer's, pellet mill equipment manufacturer's, two maybe three stove manufacturer's reps- including Dan Henry from HHT, a couple of commercial boiler manufacturer's, and three maybe four dealers.
The board meeting took place the day before we arrived. There was a little "professional" scuffle that changed their intended path for leadership. Scott Jacobs from Ozark Pellets in Missouri emerged as the new PFI President, replacing long time President Bruce Lisle of Energex.
After opening comments John Swaan from the Wood Pellet Association of Canada was first to speak. He talked of the success in exporting fuel to Europe. How we exported more pellet fuel to Europe last year than we used domestically, and future growth potential. He was followed by Christian Rakos from an Austrian company who affirmed the success of wood pellet for use as fuel and energy, and said that they would be willing to share their experiences to help us grow.
Dave Atkins did a presentation on a program called Fuels for Schools in which chip fired and/or pellet fired boiler systems were being installed in schools through a grant program. The savings experienced by these schools was impressive.
A representative from ACORE (American Council on Renewable Energy) did a presentation on the potential of biomass energy, and how the pellet industry could benefit from partnering with ACORE.
Then the conversation really steared toward commercial/industrial uses and introduced the catch phrase of the weekend- Biomass Thermal Energy. Their presentation conveyed to the fuel manufacturers that the real growth in the industry was in commercial and industrial applications. Large boiler systems are beginning to emerge, and larger players are developing ground level partnerships for energy production, and industrial applications. There were a couple of larger boiler manufacturer's present who presented their system, and partnership proposals to install these larger systems which would be delivered by bulk from the manufacturers directly.
They also spoke of new legislation that would subsidize biomass use for power production. There was concern among the group about raw material difficulties, and how this would magnefy the issues if they were competing against groups that could use the subsidy. Talk shifted to government affairs with the usual plea for funds for lobbying efforts. This is where the PFI seems to get stuck. The talk of raw material shortages arises. Then it is clarified that the easy and inexpensive raw material is getting difficult to get. You have to pay where ten years ago you may not have... Then talk turns to growing both individually and as an industry. A great number of pellet mills are not interested in growth. I can see their point. Growth is risky- Remember what happened the last time the industry took a big leap in 2005 pulling in all sorts of fuel from Canada's West coast and put big bucks into processing plants? We certainly do. To put a number on it, dealer's who grew capacity to meet the last demand bubble lost five figures, pellet mills lost six to seven figures, and stove manufacturer's lost seven or eight figures. That is a lot of zeroes!! Thus the PFI divides. Small stable growth to support local residential markets on one end, and the extreme company that wants to go all commercial industrial and spend every penny on government lobbying on the other.
The conference had it's light moments, like when Dan Henry's friend sang a song he had written in the seventies about a Plain Ol' Brown Recyclable Paper Sack (I think I got it right??), and it was good to see familiar faces, and try to get a feel for their take on the current situation.
There was a good conversation about standards. They have come up with a label and testing system that will classify wood pellets more consistently, and slightly more accurately. The big definer will still be ash content, although it will also include btu's sodium content, etc. This will help the end user have a better idea about what is in the bag as 99% of pellets on the market claim premium status by the current definition.
I do have to say that as a dealer I would have been very disappointed if I attended the PFI conference hoping for answers about pellet fuel availability and solutions for the current situation in the Northeast. There really, that I noticed, was no talk of residential use, dealers, or supply issues in the Northeast.
The focus of this conference was commercial and industrial applications, using wood pellets for thermal energy, and obtaining government support.
I walked away from the conference with two main thoughts- We are now exporting more inexpensive wood pellet fuel to Europe than we use domestically, while importing even more expensive oil. The growth of this industry, at least by the the main Northeast pellet manufacturer's desire, is in commercial and industrial applications.
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