Beech pellets

Beech as a raw material

European beech is one of the most important broadleaved trees in Central Europe. Its wood is hard, uniform and valued in furniture-making and joinery, and the by-products of processing — sawdust, shavings, offcuts — can be used as a raw material for pellet production. If they have not been chemically treated, they belong to the raw-material group allowed in the highest ENplus class, A1, just like stemwood^[1].

“Beech pellets” is a commercial term. The wood species is not a mandatory marking on an ENplus bag^[2], so this information comes from the producer or the seller. The market offers pellets declared as pure beech, as well as blends of beech with other species — we cover these in the article on mixed wood pellets.

What we know about beech wood as a fuel

In fairness, we have to start with a limitation: the sources this site relies on contain no measurements made specifically for beech wood. What we do have are well-documented typical values for hardwood as a group and measurements for other species. We will not give “figures for beech” that we cannot confirm.

Three conclusions follow from these data. First, clean hardwood does not typically contain more ash than softwood — although the Finnish VTT measurements indicate that hardwood species contain more of it than softwoods^[44]. Second, the calorific value of hardwood is typically a few tenths of a MJ/kg lower. Third, hardwood bark can be very ash-rich — the upper end of the typical range is 10%^[45]. It is the bark content, not the species, that most often decides whether the pellets stay within the A1 limit of 0.70%^[1].

Myths about beech pellets

Where beech wood comes from

Beech is a particularly important species for Slovak forestry: it covers 35.8% of the forest area, more than any other species^[50]. In Germany, beech covers 17% of the forest area^[57], in the Czech Republic 11.1% (up from 10.0%)^[51], and in Hungary approx. 6.1% of the forested area^[53]. Ukraine’s forestry agency lists beech among the country’s dominant species^[59].

In many countries, the share of broadleaved trees, including beech, is growing — partly because spruce stands have suffered from drought and bark beetle^[51],[57]. Details for individual countries are in the wood pellets by country section, including Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Ukraine.

How to check beech pellets

1. Ash — the most important test of the cleanliness of hardwood raw material, because hardwood bark can raise it quickly. See ash.
2. Nitrogen — up to 0.3% on a dry basis for A1^[1]. Some hardwood species contain more of it than softwoods, so it is worth checking the result (chlorine, sulphur, nitrogen).
3. Bulk density and net calorific value as received — together they tell you how much energy the hopper holds.
4. Certificate — verified in the register, not on a copy (verification).

If you are choosing between beech and softwood pellets, see the softwood or hardwood comparison and the guide how to choose wood pellets.