Asia to Import More Wood Pellets, Chips in Near Future
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Asia will consume more wood pellets and energy wood chips in the future, according to a report this past week by Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ) , Seattle, Wash. USA. Governments in Japan and South Korea have announced definite plans to increase their usage of green and low carbon energy alternatives.
South Korea is taking steps to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels and instead invest in domestic renewable energy technology, including wind, solar, hydropower, and biomass. The long-term plan is to increase the renewable energy share from less than 4% in 2011 to 6.1% in 2020, and then to 11.5% in 2030. As part of this effort, the government has initiated a program that included building eight new pellet plants as well as exploring opportunities to import large volumes of pellets in the future. The goal is to consume 5 million metric tons of pellets by 2020, a huge increase from the less than a few hundred thousand metric tons used in 2011.
South Korea has access to wood residues from the domestic sawmilling industry, which could be used for the manufacturing of pellets. This domestic supply, however, will not be sufficient, so South Korea will need to increase pellet imports to meet the ambitious 6.1% goal only eight years from now. The government estimates that by 2020, 75% - 80% of pellets consumed in the country will need to be imported. Some of the major energy companies in South Korea have reportedly been exploring the opportunities to import pellets from Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Canada, and the U.S.
Japan is another Asian country expected to increase importation of energy chips and wood pellets, due in part to the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima last year. Following the disaster, the Japanese government decided to close down all nuclear plants, at least temporarily. Even if a few plants eventually reopen, nuclear energy will never again be as important for energy production as it once was.
In the future, Japan will increasingly rely on renewable energy sources, with biomass likely to be one important supply source. Up until this year, Japan has imported only very limited volumes of wood pellet, primarily from Canada, but it is likely that import volumes of both pellets and energy chips will increase in the coming years.
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