Maine-based bioenergy consultancy FutureMetrics uses Palisade's @RISK software to examine feasibility of using wood pellets for biomass heating projects, create price-hedging model related to pellet production, distribution

Allison Oesterle

ITHACA, New York , May 17, 2012 (press release) – Palisade Corporation, the provider of the world's leading risk and decision analysis software, @RISK and the DecisionTools Suite, announced that FutureMetrics, an award winning consultancy that provides strategic guidance for the bioenergy sector, uses @RISK software to determine the financial feasibility of wood pellet production to fuel heating systems. Using @RISK, FutureMetrics created a price-hedging model to explore the risks related to the production and distribution of wood pellets for biomass heating projects.

Wood pellets are commonly used as a carbon-neutral substitution for coal-to-fuel home heating systems and power plants. Wood prices are key drivers for determining ROI for biomass energy projects. To accurately assess the financial feasibility of substituting wood pellets with renewable resources of energy, organizations must accurately estimate the cost of wood. With wood prices fluctuating globally, FutureMetrics turned to @RISK to calculate price-hedging strategies that a large wood pellet manufacturer could implement to maintain viability against fluctuating global wood prices. The global consumption of wood pellets is estimated at approximately 15 million tons per year, and expected to exceed 45 million tons by 2020. With such a dramatic jump in global wood pellet consumption predicted in the future, FutureMetrics developed a wood price-hedging product that uses @RISK to measure its effectiveness.

“With wood pellets fast becoming an alternative to coal and other sources of energy with high carbon emissions, we need to accurately assess the price of wood before we make any recommendations to our customers looking to invest in renewable sources of energy,” said Dr. William Strauss, president and founder of FutureMetrics. “Utilizing @RISK allowed us to make sense of a complex set of data, in a very user-friendly manner. As the user learns to use @RISK, the software has the maturity, breadth and depth to support increasingly sophisticated models and techniques. ”

“With the global need for alternative sources of energy ever-increasing, FutureMetrics is clearly ahead of the curve in helping organizations overcome the risk associated with investing in renewable energy projects”, said Randy Heffernan, vice president of Palisade. “We are glad to partner with FutureMetrics and, in turn, help organizations explore new avenues that not only bring energy costs down, but also reduce carbon emissions.”

View the complete case study at Palisade’s website: http://www.palisade.com/cases/futuremetrics.asp.

About Palisade

Palisade Corporation is a software developer that produces decision support tools for professionals in many lines of work. The company was founded in 1984, and at present more than 400,000 people use Palisade’s software in fields that range from finance to oil and mineral exploration, real estate to heavy manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals to aerospace. Its software is used by many Fortune 500 companies, including Shell Oil, Procter & Gamble, ExxonMobil, Chase Manhattan and by prominent economic and financial consultants.

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