"By NICOLE FRIEDMAN
Updated Dec. 10, 2014 2:03 a.m. ET
60 COMMENTS
About 75% of Vermont is forested. But with winter weather bearing down on the U.S., people from Montpelier to Clarendon are worried about firewood.
Woodpile
Woodpile
Last year’s frigid winter depleted stockpiles of wood logs and pellets around the state, and by the end of the season, people were having a hard time finding enough wood to heat their homes. This year, people trying to stock up are realizing that everybody else is doing that, too.
“I knew it last winter, when I got all kinds of friggin’ phone calls” from customers, said David Poirier, 62 years old, who sells firewood in Barton with his son Jeff. “The demand is just so strong. It’s like having one egg in the basket instead of 100.”...
I have held off on switching out our normal wood stove for a pellet just because of this.
I will look into it again, but right now after culling beetle kill trees I have enough wood for a couple winters.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
FredHayek wrote: I have held off on switching out our normal wood stove for a pellet just because of this.
I will look into it again, but right now after culling beetle kill trees I have enough wood for a couple winters.
I remember a year when we shipped so much to Europe the US had a pellet shortage. Not sure how long ago but I would not rule out it happening again.
"Wood pellet exports from the United States nearly doubled last year, from 1.6 million short tons (approximately 22 trillion Btu) in 2012 to 3.2 million short tons in 2013. More than 98% of these exports were delivered to Europe, and 99% originated from ports in the southeastern and lower Mid-Atlantic regions of the country."
www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=16391
