Flambeau River Biofuels

Flambeau River Biofuels intends building a $250 million biorefinery? to make diesel? and wax? out of waste wood and other forms of biomass next to the Flambeau River Papers pulp and paper? mill in Park Falls, Wisconsin.

The paper-maker has awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract to the British firm AMEC as well as Neenah-based Miron Construction?.

The project will proceed if test results from a pilot plant in Durham, North Carolina, come in as expected and if the U.S. Department of Energy approves loan guarantees that would help finance the project.¹

The Flambeau River biorefinery will create permanent, high-skilled operating jobs in the region, long-term logging jobs, and short-term engineering and construction jobs, contributing to the economic development of Park Falls. The project is expected to create 160 construction jobs, 40 permanent jobs running and supporting the biorefinery, as well as jobs for 125 loggers and truckers who will be supplying the mill with 1,000 tons of dry wood a day.

The biorefinery will process a blend of sawdust, bark and wood that isn't needed for the pulp and paper mill. The wood will be sourced from a 75-mile radius around Park Falls. Byrne intends sorting the wood by purpose for value, separating out wood for lumber, pulp or paper, with the remaining biomass being used for transportation fuels."

Current plans call for making 50% wax and 50% diesel fuel, but the process is designed to be flexible so that the biorefinery could make more diesel fuel or wax depending on the demand and price of those products in the marketplace, he said. If the project stays on track, the paper mill biorefinery is expected to be operational by 2013. The goal is to integrate the pulp and paper mill with the biorefinery so that the mill can run on fossil-free energy.

The project has received a $30 million grant from the US DOE to develop the biorefinery. To date, less than $1 million of that grant has been spent. The grant is helping to finance the demonstration pilot project now under way in North Carolina, Byrne said. Further loan guarantees are needed from the DOE.

Butch Johnson is the majority owner of Flambeau River Papers? and Flambeau River Biofuels.

Reference

¹ Bob Byrne, President of Flambeau River Biofuels