This isn't environmentalism and it isn't net nuetral

[WillJ8787]

Source:
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/07/us/american-south-biomass-energy-invs/

Seems like clear case of how can we make a buck and how can we package this nightmare into something "green".

 

[pecksniff]

What is the advantage of pressing wood into pellets? Why not burn it as is?

 

[LukSkyFokker]

 

[Fuzzy1975]

What is the advantage of pressing wood into pellets? Why not burn it as is?

When you produce electricity in a coal fired plant, you don't burn raw coal. The coal is pulverised into a fine dust, which is then blown into the fire chamber. The dust ignites faster and hotter, and burns cleaner, lowering the end emissions.

So if you are going to replace the fuel, but not the plant, you need the new fuel to work in the same system. By making wood pellets, those pellets ( with very few alterations to the feed system) can be fed right into existing coal fired Electrical plants.

 

[LupusDei]

What is the advantage of pressing wood into pellets? Why not burn it as is?

Well, the way it's intended... and mostly working here (a poor EU country), it's not whole trees grind in sawdust to produce those, but use either waste products of woodworking, actual already existing sawdust collected from sawmills, furniture makers and similar, or branches and other not easily usable parts (like wood with multiple metal shards inclusions since both world wars, yes, our industrial sawmills now x-rays every log before cutting, to protect their blades), or purpose grown fast growing woods, like willow farms where stalks are cut every third year or so (such willow farms are great additional facilities at water treatment facilities).

Here, we have done the pine forest wood farming for centuries, but it's native ecosystem and the cycle is normally long, 80-90 years, and managed right it offers great biodiversity. We are currently over cutting too, even while on paper forest coverage is growing, it happens at expense of abandoned ameliorated farmland overgrowing with bushes naturally, while cleanings are still accounted as woodland (well, here it is at least bushes within a few years even if nothing is done to replant, as is mandated by rules).

 

[wheres_the_beef]

What is the advantage of pressing wood into pellets? Why not burn it as is?

As already pointed out the start of the market was using waste sawdust. Oxygen is a critical component for a fire. The pellets let air move in and around individual pellets so they burn. A pile of sawdust would mostly just go out with most of the sawdust unburnt.

The other reason is because there were wood stoves built especially to use those waste wood pellets. Instead of constantly needing to tend a fire and add more wood, they are designed so you can load a large bin with pellets. The stove then feeds them into combustion chamber over time. That maintains relatively constant levels of heat output. If you are using wood as your primary or only heat source that is really useful. Traditional wood stoves can cause big swings in inside temps.