A Bangor-based company hopes to make a biofuel made from 100 percent ethyl levulinate, an organic chemical compound, by processing woody fiber waste from paper and lumber mills. Credit: Brian Swartz / BDN
Bangor-based Biofine Developments of Northeast Inc. has plans to produce locally sourced, renewable and emission-free heating oil by 2023.
The company hopes to make a biofuel made from 100 percent ethyl levulinate, an organic chemical compound, by processing woody fiber waste from paper and lumber mills, according to the Portland Press Herald. The biofuel, which would be called EL100, would be created with 100 tons of cellulose-based waste per day, and the company estimates that it would produce about 3 million gallons of heating oil per year.
Biofine told the Press Herald that the heating oil is emissions free and can be used safely in existing equipment, following a trial at University of Maine at Presque Isle. They hope to finalize a site for their refinery in the next month.
No wood-based fuel production has yet taken off, however.
