New, more stringent fuel standards requirements and quality assurance program will help homeowners match pellet fuel with their appliance

Pellet Fuels Manufacturers Are Encouraged to Participate In New Pellet Fuel Standards Program

With over 2 million tons of pellets warming American homes during heating season, the Pellet Fuels Institute (PFI) saw a need to provide a system to grade and standardize fuels produced by nearly 100 pellet mills throughout North America.

The PFI recently passed new, more stringent fuel standards requirements, along with a quality assurance program that will help homeowners match the pellet fuel they purchase with their appliance. This program will also provide consumers with more consistent and accurate information about the fuel they buy.

This standard system has been developed by PFI members and other non-member manufacturers to ensure that the industry remains a strong and viable participant in heating fuel and to provide a higher level of certainty regarding fuel quality to the consuming public.

We encourage all pellet mills to join us in providing consumers with the best possible fuel labeling so they can feed and operate their pellet stoves with confidence.
said Jeff Thiessen, PFI President. Participation in the standards program does not require membership in PFI.

A quality pellet fuel is a clean burning fuel and produces minimal smoke, making pellet home-heating appliances the lowest emission solid-fuel burning heating product available today. Clean-burning (at least 75% efficient) pellet fuel appliances qualify for the 30% federal consumer tax credit.

Pellet fuels are an integral part of home heating with a renewable resource, said Ken Lynn of Anderson Hardwood Pellets, one of the pellet mills participating in the program. Because of that, we believe it is important to educate consumers about pellet fuels and provide a way for them to see the quality of pellet they are purchasing. PFIs standards program does that by providing labeling for fuels that have been tested and registered.

Woodgrain Millwork in Prineville, Oregon, and Curran Renewable Energy of Massena, New York have also joined the standards program and recognize the need to ensure product quality in order to create a high level of purchasing comfort for consumers and their advocates.

Pellet mills participating in the standards program will be labeling their bags with a PFI standards program label indicating the following:

1.Their mill is a registered participant in the standards program

2.The grade of fuel contained in the bag, ash content, BTUs, type of material and if it contains any additives.

3.These labels ensure that the fuel has been tested in accordance with the PFI fuel standards specifications by an independent testing laboratory that has registered with PFI.

The Pellet Fuels Institute, located in Arlington, Virginia, is a North American trade association promoting energy independence through the efficient use of clean, renewable, densified biomass fuel. For more information about pellet heat, contact the Pellet Fuels Institute at (703) 522-6778 or www.pelletheat.org.

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