Wood fuel, one of the oldest energy sources on the planet, could become the newest commodity market if it can overcome supply limits and green concerns as demand grows for renewable energy.

Supply constraints are starting to put wood fuel into competition with the paper industry, in an uneasy reminder of existing tensions between the food industry and companies making biofuels from food crops. John Bingham, a director at consultants Hawkins Wright, said that an open market was “coming very fast”, citing Eurostat data showing EU imports of wood pellets up 42% last year.