RUMFORD – The River Valley Growth Council Wednesday approved hiring a Canadian firm to write a technical proposal that could lead to a multi-million dollar federal grant for the development of an alternative fuel.
The Growth Council is going after a $2.8 million federal Department of Energy grant for the development of a demonstration pyrolysis refinery and hydrogen production plant. In order to compete for the money, a technical proposal must be submitted by mid-June, and because the technology is so new, very few companies are able to write such a plan.
Pyrolysis turns waste wood into chemicals used in a variety of ways and into hydrogen for use as a fuel.
Economic developer Scott Christiansen said the Sherbrooke, P.Q., and Colorado-based company Enerkem Technologies is one of those.
In addition, it is a company that was recommended by the National Renewable Energy Lab in Colorado, he said. Christiansen and RVGC President Joe Derouche have been working with the lab on industries that could produce alternative fuels based on wood.
Up to $65,000 was approved for the hiring of Enerkem. The funds came from the state for the specific pursuit of the federal DOE grant.
Enerkem will spend part of the funding for the proposal, then follow-up on the project by studying the types and amounts of wood needed for a demo pyrolysis plant, locating a potential site within the River Valley for such a plant, identifying chemicals and their marketability resulting from the pyrolysis process, and help the RVGC develop the plant.
Christiansen said Enerkem is also interested in potentially becoming a partner with the RVGC is developing this new technology.
Christiansen and Derouche traveled to Washington, D.C., in March to discuss the possible grant with representatives of its sponsors, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. The two senators introduced the grant under the federal Energy and Water bill.
RVGC should know whether the project will be funded by October.
The board also tabled action on the sale of any part of the former Diamond Mill in Peru until an environmental assessment has been conducted and the successful transfer of the property has been made to the RVGC.
The action was made in response to an offer by a Carthage excavating firm to buy a portion of the building complex for use in the business.
eadams@sunjournal.com
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