MTI awards $1.5M for biomass and forest projects

April 21, 2019 |

In Maine, the Board of Directors of the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) approved two awards from the Emerging Technology Challenge for Maine’s Forest Resources, each for $750,000.

The two companies receiving the awards represent different natural resource-based technologies that make use of Maine’s abundant forest resources and supply chain.

The first $750,000 award was made to GO Lab, Inc. GO Lab, a building products manufacturer

in Belfast, Maine, will transform the insulation market in the next 10 years. Its insulation, made from wood fiber, is renewable, recyclable, nontoxic, and performs as well, or better than, other available insulations.

The second $750,000 award was made to Biofine Developments Northeast (BDNE). The funding will allow BDNE to carry out the commercial development of the first large scale bio-refinery deploying Biofine’s technology in Bucksport, Maine. This plant will enable the conversion of woody biomass to the chemical intermediate, levulinic acid allowing economic production of a completely renewable heating oil substitute.

The Challenge was part of MTI’s collaboration with the Forest Opportunities Roadmap (FOR/Maine) in supporting the development and/or attraction of emerging technology companies in the forest resource sector, using Biobased Maine as an external contractor to vet and evaluate the proposals.

 

Category: Fuels

Thank you for visting the Digest.