Old Town (Maine) pulp mill running, more jobs promised (wood pellets & biorefinery)

[jpak]

http://bangordailynews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=150615&zoneid=500

OLD TOWN — It was slightly more than a year ago that Gov. John Baldacci and then Economic Development Commissioner Jack Cashman promised to find a buyer for the Old Town mill, left vacant by Georgia-Pacific Corp. when it closed the facility and left 450 people out of work.

<snip>

A Red Shield subsidiary also is developing four wood pellet lines and a commercial scale pellet cogeneration plant.

<snip>

Monday’s announcement is the first step in a collaboration with the University of Maine to use the pulp process to produce ethanol, a substitute for MTBE, methyl tertiary-butyl ether, found in automobile gasoline. Some places are outlawing MTBE because it allegedly causes cancer and has been found in water supplies.

For now, the high-quality hardwood pulp will be sold to other facilities, but UM has received a $10.35 million grant to conduct research on using the pulping process to make ethanol, plastics, industrial chemicals and other products now made with oil.

<more>