Since January 2012, multiple wood bioenergy projects in the United States have opened, closed or advanced their move towards operational viability.  However, the implications on potential wood use were insignificant.  Total potential wood use from announced and operating projects decreased less than 0.5% while potential wood use from operationally “viable” projects increased approximately 1%.  As of February 27, 2012, Wood Bioenergy US reports that projected wood demand for all announced projects in the U.S. totaled 122.7 million tons, while the 297 projects that passed Forisk’s screening methodology could consume up to 69.5 million tons of wood annually by 2022.

Project specific activities include:

• Eagle Valley Clean Energy plans to build an 11.5 MW biomass power plant in Gypsum, CO that will use logging residues, pre-commercial thinnings, and fuel treatments as well as urban wood waste from a local landfill. Construction could be complete by the end of 2013.
• Beaver Wood Energy received an air permit for its proposed wood pellet and 29.5 MW CHP plant in Fair Haven, VT. The group is pursuing an interconnection agreement and waste water permit.
• Mt. Poso Cogeneration is operating and producing 44 MW of power at full capacity in Bakersfield, CA. Macpherson Energy Company and DTE Energy Services converted the former coal plant to 100 percent biomass. The plant runs on urban wood waste and agricultural residue.
• ZeaChem will receive $12 million from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Regional Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP). Zeachem is targeting to produce drop-in fuels, including jet, diesel, and gasoline fuels, starting in 2013 at its biorefinery in Boardman, OR.
• Enviva continues to expand its pipeline of activities.  The firm signed an agreement with E.ON to provide 240,000 metric tons per year of wood pellets beginning in 2013.

For a complete Wood Bioenergy US summary of projects and associated wood demand statistics, click here.