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This perspective provides an overview of wood pellet markets in a number of countries of high signifi cance, together with an inventory of market factors and relevant past or existing policies. In 2010, the estimated global wood pellet production and consumption were close to 14.3 Mt (million metric tonnes) and 13.5 Mt, respectively, while the global installed production capacity had reached over 28 Mt. Two types of pellets are mainly traded (i) for residential heating and (ii) for large-scale district heating or co-fi ring installations. The EU was the primary market, responsible for nearly 61% and 85% of global production and consumption, respectively in 2010. EU markets were divided according to end use: (i) residential and district heating, (ii) power plants driven market, (iii) mixed market, and (iv) export-driven countries. North America basically serves as an exporter, but also with signifi cant domestic consumption in USA. East Asia is predicted to become the second-largest consumer after the EU in the near future. The development perspective in Latin America remains unclear. Five factors that determine the market characteristics are: (i) the existence of coal-based power plants, (ii) the development of heating systems, (iii) feedstock availability, (iv) interactions with wood industry, and (v) logistics factor. Furthermore, intervention policies play a pivotal role in market development. The perspective of wood pellets industry was also analyzed from four major aspects: (i) supply potential, (ii) logistics issues, (iii) sustainability considerations, and (iv) technology development.Perspective: Wood pellet market and trade: a global perspective CS Goh et al.

The ash behavior during suspension firing of 12 alternative solid biofuels, such as pectin waste, mash from a beer brewery, or waste from cigarette production have been studied and compared to wood and straw ash behavior. Laboratory suspension firing tests were performed on an entrained flow reactor and a swirl burner test rig, with special emphasis on the formation of fly ash and ash deposit. Thermodynamic equilibrium calculations were performed to support the interpretation of the experiments. To generalize the results of the combustion tests, the fuels are classified according to fuel ash analysis into three main groups depending upon their ash content of silica, alkali metal, and calcium and magnesium. To further detail the biomass classification, the relative molar ratio of Cl, S, and P to alkali were included. The study has led to knowledge on biomass fuel ash composition influence on ash transformation, ash deposit flux, and deposit chlorine content when biomass fuels are applied for suspension combustion.