FutureMetrics LLC on July 26 published a new white paper that suggests that cooperation between industrial wood pellet advocates and consortiums that advocate for wind power, solar power and energy storage could be the most effective way forward for future policy development.

In the paper, authors Annette Bossler and William Strauss note that wood pellet associations have successfully championed growth of the industry over the past 15 years, helping industrial pellet fuel to become an important component in the move to renewable power generation in the U.K., western Europe, Japan and South Korea.

Moving forward, however, Bossler and Strauss say that finding policy pathways that support growth in demand in existing markets is becoming more challenging and that there are no U.S. policies that support industrial pellet demand. Cooperating with other renewable power advocates may be the best way forward when it comes to policy development, the authors state.

The white paper offers several examples of cooperative efforts between wind and solar advocates to influence policy development, and stresses the need carbon-neutral, reliable baseload power to aid in the transition to those renewable energy sources. Coal-fired power plants converted to wood pellet fuel can supply that baseload power. Bossler and Strauss suggest working with, rather than against, other renewable power industries offers the best path forward for the industrial pellet industry.

A full copy of the report can be downloaded from the FutureMetrics website.