Enviva releases data on supply chain sustainability

Enviva, the 'world’s largest' producer of industrial wood pellets, has released its latest Track & Trace data.

According to Enviva, Track & Trace is a proprietary data system that enables the pellet producer to monitor every truckload of wood it procures from the forest throughout the entire supply chain process.

 

Controversy

Last year, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), in collaboration with the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Dogwood Alliance, released a report entitled: European Imports of Wood Pellets for “Green Energy” Devastating US Forests. In it, they claim that the logging practices being used to supply biomass to Enviva are “unsustainable”. Specifically, the report authors allege that mature hardwood forests were cut down to source Enviva’s new wood pellet mill in Sampson County, North Carolina.

The report also claims “vast quantities” of whole trees and other large-diameter wood – biomass feedstocks known to be high carbon – enter Enviva’s supply chain.

The wood pellet manufacturer is a major supplier to a number of European energy utilities, including Drax in the United Kingdom and Dong Energy in Denmark.

 

Validating sustainability

Enviva claims that the Track & Trace system measures, maintains and validates its sustainability practices throughout the Southeastern US.

“We developed the Track & Trace system two years ago to provide unmatched transparency into our supply chain and to make important information about the health of the working forests in the Southeastern US available to the public,” said John Keppler, Chairman and CEO of Enviva.

“Enviva’s Track & Trace is a remarkable display of business transparency, and sets a new precedent among energy producers,” said Bastien Sachet, CEO of The Forest Trust, in a statement issued by Enviva. The Forest Trust is an organization which has worked to improve the sustainability of commodity supply chains.

“Enviva is committed to innovation and to forest preservation,” Sachet added, “and the Track & Trace program is one of the reasons we’re proud to have them as a member of The Forest Trust.”

 

This article was written by Daryl Worthington, editor of Bioenergy Insight