By Erin Voegele, Biomass Magazine.

A report recently filed with the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network provides an overview of the European Union’s biofuel market, including data on wood pellets and biogas.

Regarding pellets, the report explains that the EU is the world’s largest wood pellet market, with approximately 20.5 million metric tons of pellets consumed in 2015, with approximately 65 percent of that volume used for heat and 35 percent for power. Demand is expected to increase to 22.5 million metric tons in 2017. The EU currently accounts for approximately 75 percent of the global market for wood pellets. The EU is also the world’s biggest producer of pellets, featuring approximately 50 percent of global production. When compared to North American pellet plants, however, EU plants are primarily small- or medium-sized.