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Energy Pellets : A Heating Fuel Resource for North Carolina Farms and Homes

Increased prices for nonrenewable heating fuels (such as propane, heating oil, and natural gas) have residential and farm consumers seeking more sustainable solutions to their heating needs. Price increases among these fuels will remain a trend as a combination of decreased reserves and increased demand continues to limit supply (EIA, 2012). Pellets produced from abundant biomass sources—such as grasses, crop residues, and woody fiber—are gaining acceptance as a valuable heating resource. Recently, the development of farm-scale pelleting systems has provided farmers and other consumers with greater opportunity to manufacture pellets at considerably lower costs than commercial systems. In this publication, we explain the pelleting process and considerations for consumers interested in either developing small-scale heating pellet production systems or burning pellets to meet their heating needs.