The United States isn't an energy exporter—in fact, this country imported almost 9 million barrels of oil a day in May, according to the latest figures from the Energy Information Administration.

But as European utilities hustle to augment their coal-fired power plants with those that run on renewable fuel, American-made wood pellets have become a hot commodity. European imports of U.S. wood pellets were up 62 percent in the first quarter of 2009 from the same period a year ago, reported The Wall Street Journal. (Read our buyer's guide to wood- and pellet-burning stoves and watch for our report on pellet stoves in the October 2009 issue of Consumer Reports, online and on newsstands in late August.)

Driving the growth is a European Union rule that requires member countries to generate 20 percent of their electricity from renewable resources by 2020. The American Clean Energy and Security Actt, which passed the House last month, would set the same requirement for U.S. utilities. "We won't be shipping pellets overseas [if that happens]," says Steven Walker, development director of Phoenix Renewable Energy, which is about to break ground on a 250,000-ton-a-year pellet plant in Camden, Arkansas. "We'll be shipping them domestically."

Even without a new renewable-energy standard, sales of wood pellets should remain robust in this country. In 2008, 141,211 wood-pellet appliances shipped, up 161 percent from the previous year, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association. That consumer demand has brought a lot of interest in and innovation to the industry, including a bulk-delivery system that eliminates the need for homeowners to haul pellets in 40-pound bags from the retailer to their stoves.

A lot of energy is used to get American pellets overseas, but it still doesn't offset the energy-saving benefits that pellets provide compared with burning coal.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook