Bethesda Business at the Center of Controversial Wood Pellet Use in Europe
Logo and wood pellet image via Enviva website.
The Washington Post took a long look this week at problems related to Europe’s recent reliance on wood pellets to fuel European power plants and the issues surrounding that reliance—primarily that it’s leading to more U.S. trees being cut down and the fuel may not be as environmentally beneficial as advertised.
At the center of the issue is Bethesda-based Enviva, which the newspaper identifies as the “country’s largest producer of wood pellets” and which operates six pellet mills in four states and has plans to open three more. The company produces nearly 1.5 million metric tons of wood pellets and ships them to Europe every year, according to the report.
The problem, according to scientists, is that wood pellet manufacturers are using whole hardwoods—not just discarded wood parts—to create the pellets. While the company publicly states it is using waste wood on its website, activists and the article’s reporter, Joby Warrick, photographed or saw the company transporting whole trees into a plant in North Carolina. The company officials maintain the trees would have just been made into pulp, but the activists claim the hardwoods the company uses may be worse for the environment than the coal previously used in European power plants and the removal of the trees is deforesting flood plains and wetlands in the Southeast.
Matchbox Plans Large Expansion
Matchbox Food Group, which operates a dozen restaurants in the Washington, D.C., region, including a Matchbox in Rockville and a Ted’s Bulletin in Gaithersburg, is planning to open 36 restaurants by 2020, according to The Washington Business Journal.
The company has already raised $9 million and plans to raise $20 million in total over the next six weeks, according to the report. Matchbox Food Group is already working on three new locations in Virginia and is also considering opening new restaurants in Texas and Florida.
New CIO of State Retirement and Pension System Got His Start in Bethesda
The Board of Trustees of the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System announced Monday the appointment of Andrew C. Palmer to the post of chief investment officer. Palmer, who started his career in 1985 with Bethesda-based ASB Capital Management, will help to oversee the $46 billion in investments managed by the retirement and pension fund. He joins the state retirement fund after working as the deputy CIO of the Tennessee retirement system, where he has worked since 2006.
The Maryland fund manages the retirement accounts of more than 388,000 current and retired workers. Palmer replaces former CIO A. Melissa Moye, who took a job with the U.S. Treasury Department in August 2014.
Sandy Spring Builders Wins Four Awards
Home photos via Sandy Spring Builders
Bethesda-based Sandy Spring Builders took home four awards for its custom homes at the Maryland Building Industry Association awards Thursday night. The local home builder won gold awards in the custom traditional home category, the custom home measuring between 5,000 and 7,000 square feet and the custom home between 7,500 and 12,500 square feet. The local company also won a silver in the custom transitional home under 5,000 square feet category.
