The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network recently released a report detailing Russia’s biofuels industry, offering some good news.
Biomass pellets are used as a heating source and the use of this fuel in industrial and residential applications including boilers, pellet stoves and other wood-fired equipment has increased significantly over the last few years.
Russia is one of the leading oil and gas exporters and producers in the world and biofuels make up five percent of its entire heating energy. BioMassMagazine reports that one of Russia’s main sources of energy, the burning of wood pellets, will continue to grow.
The wood pellet industry has significantly grown over the last few years and that trend looks like it will continue. In North America, the wood pellet demand is projected to exceed 5 million metric tons by 2025. In Russia, according to Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT), wood pellet production is expected to increase by 8 million metric tons by 2025.
Along with the increased demand from Asian and European markets, Russia’s local consumption of wood pellets has contributed to the energy growth as well.
“Given the current economic situation,” read the USDA report, “the number of smaller-capacity facilities is forecast to increase because they have more mobility in sourcing ray materials and can easily market their production locally.”
According to WhaTech, biomass energy’s recent spike in popularity is because of the overall ease of use and unconstructed timeframe. Energy sources like wind and solar power are only available at certain times and are dependent on weather. The energy that’s extracted from wood pellets can be continuously available and is not affected by other external factors such as renewable energy and weather conditions.
Russia’s goal is to become 40% more energy efficient by 2020 and the overall value of the global pellet industry is expected to reach $8.3 billion USD by that time.