In Japan, pellet stoves, heating devices that use pellets, which are molded fuel made from wood in granular form, are attracting attention as a form of woody biomass energy use. Pellets are easy to handle and control combustion, and are expected to spread to a wide range of consumers, including general households.

In Japan, pellet stoves, heating devices that use pellets, which are molded fuel made from wood in granular form, are attracting attention as a form of woody biomass energy use. Pellets are easy to handle and control combustion, and are expected to spread to a wide range of consumers, including general households.

Shin-Ei Trading Co., Ltd. has concluded a distributor agreement with Envirofire Inc. of Canada, which has already established a market for both pellets and pellet stoves and is making progress in technological development, in an effort to promote pellet stoves in Japan.

Akio Ito, director and general manager of the company, says, "Pellet stoves will help create a zero-emission society.

Mr. Ito first encountered pellet stoves three years ago. At the time, he was running a management consulting business and visited the United States on business. Pellet stoves are used in about 900,000 households in the U.S., Canada, and other countries, and are not that rare. There are more than a dozen pellet stove manufacturers in the U.S. and three in Canada, where technological development is underway and know-how has been accumulated over the years.

On the other hand, pellet stoves are not widely used in Japan, and there are no full-scale pellet stove manufacturers in Japan. However, there is a market for wood stoves, which use firewood instead of pellets, of about 8,000 units per year, with a cumulative total of about 400,000 units in operation. However, general demand for wood stoves has not grown due to the difficulty of adjusting the heat output, smoke problems, and the need to install heat-resistant boards and other equipment around the stove. In particular, recently, the public has become nervous about smoke due to the dioxin epidemic, and demand for wood stoves is on a downward trend. Even in the U.S., the ratio of pellet stoves to wood stoves is about 8 to 2," says Ito.

Convinced that there is a need for pellet stoves in Japan, including as a substitute for wood stoves, he established Shin-Ei Trading Co. Prior to the establishment of the company, it signed a contract with a major Canadian pellet stove manufacturer, Enviro Fire (British Columbia), as its sole distributor in Japan. The company chose Envirofire not only because of the quality and design of its stoves, but also because it is located in the westernmost part of Canada and has good transportation access to Japan. The company was beginning to receive frequent approaches from other Japanese companies wishing to become the sole distributor in Japan, but "our offer to purchase a batch of 150 stoves as a start seemed to convey our seriousness," said Mr. Ito. It took about 50 million yen to establish the company, including the cost of purchasing the stoves, but in October 2001, the company began selling pellet stoves in earnest.

Enviro Fire's pellet stove can be easily operated with a switch panel and can be used like an air conditioner because the built-in temperature sensor automatically controls the amount of pellets supplied to the combustion chamber in detail. All the user has to do is insert pellets through the fuel inlet on the top of the stove, press the switch of the automatic ignition device, and adjust the knob for the heat power. Pellets are supplied to the combustion chamber according to the set temperature, and air is drawn in from the back of the stove and warm air is blown out through the air vent. The combustion chamber is separate from the convection proer that warms the air, and the advantage is that CO2 and exhaust gas emissions can be quantified, eliminating the need for ventilation. Ash from burned pellets is collected in a drawer-type ash pan at the bottom of the stove.

There are various models available, depending on the size of the room and other factors, but roughly 18 kg of pellets can burn continuously for up to 32 hours. The EF3Bi type, which has the highest thermal efficiency, is priced at 525,000 yen, including the chimney, fireproof floorboards, and installation costs. Although more expensive than oil stoves, it is competitive with wood stoves, which cost 700,000-1,200,000 yen. Currently, pellets are imported from Canada and sold (8,000 yen for 18 kg). While transportation costs are high, this is because pellets suitable for pellet stoves are not produced and distributed domestically. The pellets used in Canada, Europe, and the United States are so-called white pellets, made from tree trunks and wood chips from their parts. On the other hand, most pellets produced in Japan are bark pellets. Compared to bark pellets, white pellets have a higher heat-generating effect and a lower residual ash rate. They also produce less smoke and ash
. Bark pellets can be used in industrial chip burners and boilers, which burn at high temperatures, but are not suitable for pellet stoves used at home. In Japan, pellet storps have not been widely used, so there has never been a need for white pellets. In addition, given the current state of Japan's forestry and mountain forests, with their high labor costs, steep terrain, and stagnant use of thinned wood, domestic white pellets may not be able to compete with foreign-made pellets in terms of cost. However, from the standpoint of purely domestic energy and the revitalization of forestry recovery areas, it is natural to want to use domestically produced pellets. We hope that the spread of pellet stoves will serve as a catalyst for this. In addition, each car was disassembled and inspected before being shipped to the customer after importation. Until now, there have been companies that have handled pellet stoves in Japan in the form of parallel imports, but most of them have
left the pellet stove on the market. However, most of them were left to sell. These sales efforts have paid off, and the company's pellet stoves are gaining recognition and credibility. So far, the first 150 units purchased have been sold out, and the next 150 are expected to be sold out soon, with plans to purchase 150 more soon. Users include general households, schools, kindergartens, and other educational facilities, as well as replacements for wood-burning stoves, and orders from design firms are also increasing. Mr. Ito analyzes, "With the growing interest in indoor air quality due to sick building syndrome countermeasures, people seem to be starting to pay more attention not only to building materials and the like, but also to the heating equipment they use indoors. In order to further promote the product, the company has also begun using distributors, and as of December 15, 2022, the number of distributors had reached 36 nationwide, with the goal of having two distri
butors per prefecture. In addition, in the fall of 2022, we formed a partnership with Pig Foot (Meguro-ku, Tokyo), a major log house manufacturer, to secure a large share of sales. Through this sales network, our immediate goal is to sell 1,000 units per year. At present, the company is involved in the actual use of wood biomass energy, including troubleshooting, which is one of the highest numbers in Japan.

Even for a single wood pellet, "Quality and combustion characteristics vary greatly depending on the material and manufacturing process, even among pellet makers in North America. The quality and combustion characteristics of wood pellets vary greatly depending on the material and manufacturing process, even from one North American pellet manufacturer to another," he said. There are many things that can be learned only after actually using and operating the equipment," said Mr. Ito, sharing some of his experience. Utilizing this know-how, the company plans to design pellet manufacturing plants and medium- to large-scale woody biomass energy utilization plants that will be developed from pellet stoves, as well as propose regional woody biomass energy utilization systems and business models. As a company that will lead the expansion of the woody biomass energy market in the future, the company's business has many possibilities.