We especially like this issue of Wood Bioenergy magazine because it’s a perfect example of what we strive to be.
Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. is the parent company of Wood Bioenergy magazine, as well as Timber Processing, Timber Harvesting, Panel World and Southern Loggin’ Times magazines. Those magazines became the leaders in their respective wood industry segments primarily because our editorial staff established long-lasting relationships with those industries by frequently traveling in the field, visiting numerous plants and operations, and basically getting to know the people behind those operations.
Wood Bioenergy, since its formation in 2009, has followed the same formula. There are lots of bioenergy magazines and newsletters out there, but what most of them don’t bring to the table are in-the-field stories. One reason they don’t is because it’s a major commitment and a significant expense. But our reasoning has always been that you can’t get to know an industry, if you don’t get out there and meet it—the old getting your boots muddy thing. It still holds true.
From Left: David (DK) Knight, Co-Publisher/Executive Editor; David Abbott, Senior Associate Editor; Dan Shell, Western Editor; Jessica Johnson, Associate Editor; Rich Donnell, Editor-in-Chief
In this issue of Wood Bioenergy, our editors traveled far afield. For example, we had heard about the world’s largest wood gasification project starting up in Vaasa, Finland and had read plenty of press releases. But we wanted to see it for ourselves, and on page 22 you’ll begin reading the article written by our associate editor, David Abbott, who made the long voyage over there. He also stopped off at the Elmia Wood show in Jönköping, Sweden, where biomass harvesting and processing was one of the major themes.
Back “home,” we sent associate editor Jessica Johnson down to Florida to interview the principals behind Wood Resource Recovery, which has an agreement with the new and massive Gainesville Renewable Energy Center biomass power plant project to supply almost half of its wood fiber supply in the form of processed “urban” wood waste.
Frankly, when you think of worldwide developments in the wood bioenergy industry, and which symbolize what the wood bioenergy is becoming on a global scale—from biomass processing to biomass power—the Florida story and the Finland story are extremely significant.
Bioenergy Fuels & Products Conference & Expo
It is this kind of hands-on commitment that Wood Bioenergy magazine also brings to its Bioenergy Fuels & Products Conference & Expo, which will be held March 18-19, 2014 at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
The two-day conference emphasizes technologies and market developments in wood pellets, biomass power, biofuels and raw materials harvesting and procurement. The 2012 event featured 45 speakers and attracted more than 400 industry representatives. It also included 75 exhibitors in the Grand Ballroom North of the Omni Hotel.
In our survey of attendees following the 2012 event, 100% of the respondents said they possibly or definitely found something at the conference and expo that would be useful for their business. Also significant, compared to many other bioenergy events, was that most of the attendees represented producer companies and operations.
Attendee registration will open later this year. The event is currently signing up exhibitors. Visit www.bioenergyshow.com.