Short introspections regarding the sawdust briquetting as sustainable solution for the environment

Abstract

Wood pellets have only become an important part of this boom in the past few years. Owners of large coal-fired power stations in Europe started searching for a way to fulfill the new regulations and to find a solution for the declining economic relevance of traditional coal-fired power stations due to their high carbon dioxide emissions. The answer was to give the old dirty giants a green coat of paint by “co-firing” regular coal power plants with wood pellets. Wood pellets have similar burning qualities to traditional coal and the costs of converting boilers to burn wood pellets are low. The idea of declaring wood pellets as a carbon neutral energy source was based on the assumption that the released emissions of carbon dioxide during the burning process are neutralized by the carbon that is captured and stored in newly growing trees. The idea of using wood as a renewable source was backed by environment organizations. More recent pellet investment projects as well as facilities currently under construction show that the production of wood pellets is being outsourced by the energy firms to companies specialized in wood pellet production. These firms are 100-percent focused on sourcing the raw material, operating the wood pellet production plant and handling the logistics for transporting the renewable resource.