Bear Mountain Forest Products, BioHeatUSA, Energex Corporation, Forest Energy Corporation, International WoodFuels, Marth, New England Wood Pellet, PelletSales.com, and Woodstone have formed the Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC). BTEC is a non-profit association dedicated to advancing the use of biomass for heat and other thermal energy applications. Through its education and activities, BTEC seeks to enhance the understanding of the technologies used today and those under development.
The founding members of BTEC include biomass fuel producers, appliance manufacturers and distributors, and supply chain companies that represent the breadth of interests in the fast growing biomass thermal energy industry.
Thermal energy accounts for roughly one-third of the energy used today in the United States. Renewable biomass resources can help meet this demand for thermal energy by providing heat for industrial processes as well as heating for businesses and homes. Thermal uses of biomass include providing heat for processing foods like milk and yogurt, heating universities and commercial facilities, heating neighborhoods through a district heating grid, and supplying over 1 million homes with heat from pellet appliances that would have otherwise been generated by non-renewable fuels like heating oil or natural gas.
BTEC has begun widespread activities to promote the use of biomass thermal energy in federal, state and regional policy discussions concerning renewable energy and the broader energy landscape. Through its education and outreach activities, BTEC seeks to enhance the understanding of the technologies used today and those under development.
The use of biomass for thermal energy is the most responsible and efficient use of this renewable resource, said board chairman Charlie Niebling. There is enormous potential for wood pellets, wood chips, energy crops, agricultural residues and other forms of biomass to help meet America’s thermal energy needs.
“Thermal energy from biomass has enormous growth potential,” said Jeffrey Serfass, executive director of BTEC. “We see tremendous opportunity in regions that depend heavily on fossil fuels for heating and combined heat and power. Biomass thermal energy can replace those non-renewable fuels while reducing the demand for imported fuels and reducing greenhouse gases. As such, the use of biomass for heating should be an important component of the Obama Administration’s new energy policy.”