FBRI mentioned in Biofuels Digest report on adding value to forest industry

The University of Maine’s Forest Bioproducts Research Institute was included in the Biofuels Digest article, “Bounding Maine: Top 10 companies targeting Maine’s forest resource for higher-value apps.” Last September, the Defense Logistics Agency announced it will invest $3.3 million to advance wood to jet fuel technology at the Technology Research Center of FBRI. The technology is based on FBRI’s patented thermal deoxygenation process, which was shown to yield jet fuel test samples that have met key specifications, according to the article. UMaine’s research approach, based on potential sustainable supply of woody biomass, will provide new opportunities for high-value use as an alternative to direct combustion in biomass power plants, where energy efficiency is often very low, the article states.