Paper mill branches into energy (biorefinery)

[jpak]

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=694422

The midday steam whistle is blowing again, sounding the return of opportunities to a mill town that has been through the wringer.

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Flambeau is proposing a pilot plant on site that would make the mill not only free of fossil fuels but a net producer of energy, generating an entirely new stream of earnings estimated at $3.9 million a year.

Encouraged by employees, researchers and state officials, Flambeau is investing in the notion that pulp and paper mills are in a prime position to be alternative energy producers.

Papermakers already handle vast amounts of forest-based biomass, and emerging adaptations of existing technology could allow them to efficiently transform parts of trees they don't need into renewable fuels.

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