The U.S. Department of Energy wants to reduce the cost of delivering biomass to biorefineries and has funded up to $7 million for two projects. The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry will receive up to $3.5 million to reduce the delivered cost of woody biomass, better assess feedstock quality, and improve harvesting and processing operations to better meet biorefinery needs. The University of Tennessee will also receive up to $3.5 million to research feedstock blending and delivery radius, and create a new biomass processing facility to explore ways to deliver consistent, high-performing feedstocks.

While the types of biomass in these projects may differ from what we have in Maine (SUNY ESF will be primarily focused on short rotation crops), the logistics challenges are the same. Maine is a very large state and while we have an excellent source of woody biomass (trees), there are logistical issues with respect to harvesting, aggregating, transporting, and processing.

One way to circumvent these issues is by co-locating new technologies with existing industrial sites (like pulp and paper mills), where existing logistics and infrastructure can be leveraged to create higher value-added products, such as advanced biofuels and biochemicals.

The development of new forest-based byproducts at existing American mill sites is a national goal for the pulp and paper industry. According to its Agenda 2030 (A Vision for Advanced Manufacturing of Pulp, Paper, and Forest Bioproducts in 2030), by adopting some new technologies, the U.S. pulp and paper industry could:

– Double energy productivity

– Reduce 1,000 TBtu (1 Quad) per year

– Reduce water used per ton by 50 percent (thereby reducing water discharge nationally by 480 billion gallons per year)

– Develop new biobased products worth $25 billion in sales per year

– Create 80,000 new jobs related to manufacture of biobased products

– Protect 400,000 existing jobs by making 359 mills in 40 states more sustainable economically, environmentally, and socially

– Dramatically improve the life-cycle sustainability of its product

The intersection between the American pulp and paper industry and the growing global bioeconomy seems inevitable – but will Maine be able to get in the game?

 

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