BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 29, 2020
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 an organic chemical compound by processing woody fiber waste from paper and lumber mills. The biofuel 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. In Maine nearly two-thirds of homes still rely on heating oil as a primary heating source. For years, there has been a concerted push to replace petroleum-based fuel with plant-based biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the nation’s reliance on foreign oil, which has led to multiple attempts at biorefineries in the state. No wood-based fuel production has yet taken off, however.