Can't you use charcoal/ash instead of sawdust? Or just ground up brown organic matter? I also don't see a bad thing in less chicken's being "produced" and less trees being cut down, oil drille, and dairy... sucked?

However, I must admit to not having thought of the fact that this sort of organic waste is in such demand already, that ethanol from these sources might be just as bad as that from food crops.

This was surprising and informative. Thanks!

Economics at work in the real world. No action is without repercussions. But how much does it cost to manufacture and distribute wood pellets? between $100/ton feedstock and $220/ton retail price, it seems like there ought to be a sliver of profitability.

I hadn't been aware that wood pellets required such uniform and high quality feedstock. So reclaimed wood from landfills might not qualify, as it might have started to decay or be contaminated by other wastes. Pulling wood and tree and yard waste from transfer stations probably has a big future.

Once upon a time I blended sawdust with other materials to make specialty soil amendments (mulch), and we were paid by folks for the privilege of dumping off their waste. Times sure change.

RE Your point of reference.

Bluefire ethanol already intends to use cellulose from landfill waste, so at least for those landfills there will be nothing to mine.

There are 3,000,000 empty McHouses in the US. We can grind 'em up and burn 'em! Yeehaa!

Aren't other materials usable, though? Can't pellet stoves burn yard waste? Can't cellulosic ethanol be made out of things like farm waste and switchgrass?

=== author's response follows ===
Sort of. There are three different grades of sold wood pellets. The premium grade contains no bark or resin producing materials, and hence results in lower creosote formation, and prevents buildup of plugs of solid ash in the top of the line, low maintenance pellet stoves.

The lower grades can be indeed made of other materials but are not not compatible with all pellet stoves and/or at least involve more manual maintenance of the stove on regular basis. Americans are lazy and disengaged from their home heating systems, especially with both parents often out of the home working, hence making the lower grade pellets less life style fitting.

There is no shortage of suitable biomass. Sawdust possibly. Grasses can be used, fast growing trees can be farmed and coppiced, salt water reeds can be harvested etc.

The big wood pellet plants have been charging high prices. Now small entrepreneurs can use appropriately scaled equipment to produce and sell locally at a better price. See pelheat.com for one manufacturer.

Biomass pellets could meet all heating needs plus electric production. Pellets burn much cleaner than coal, and can help greatly in attaining energy independence from Mideast oil. The production and distribution can be local and create lots of jobs.

I was looking in to Pellet stoves for my father's farm. You can make your own pelets (you just need to get a mill and they are not too expensive) but the material and the water content are picky. Once you start adding up the energy needs to produce pellets, the benefit shrinks. You pretty much need a drying facility to use grasses.
-Lego