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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 17 M A R C H 6 , 2 0 2 3 F O C U S E M E R G I N G I N D U S T R I E S I n the Penobscot County town of Enfield, construc- tion of a facility is underway that will "carbonize" woodchips and sawdust residuals from a neighbor- ing sawmill through a process called pyrolysis. e result is "biochar" — a granular charcoal-like material that is used in high-value applications such as PFAS remediation, stormwater management and in agriculture for soil improvement and in animal bedding while permanently removing C02 from the atmosphere. Frederick Horton and his brother Tom founded Standard Biocarbon Corp., a clean-tech startup head- quartered in Portland, to produce high quality biochar using state-of-the art technology from Germany. "Biochar has been around for millennia," says Frederick Horton. "Its use cases in agriculture are well established." Other applications include environmental remedia- tion and stormwater management, along with emerg- ing uses as an additive to cement and pavement. eir manufacturing facility, at the Pleasant River Sawmill in Enfield, will use residuals that have expe- rienced declining demand due to closures of biomass power plants and paper mills. A 'closed loop' e relationship between the two companies works like this: Pleasant River Mill offers a reliable on-site supply of clean, woodchips for feedstock and invaluable sup- port and assistance from Chris and Jason Brochu, co- presidents of Pleasant River Lumber, and their team. In turn, Standard Biocarbon will send excess thermal energy back to the mill for its drying kiln system. "It's an elegant closed loop," says Horton. e Enfield mill is the newest of Pleasant River's five mills across Maine and continues to expand. For now, chip production from spruce and fir is about 100,000 tons annually, but will eventually reach 250,000 tons, says Mike LeBrun, general manager. Pleasant River ships 95% of its chips to a paper mill in Old Town. Users of its sawdust include farmers for animal bedding and heating pellet makers. Bark goes to makers of gardening mulch. Ware-Butler Industrial will supply prod- ucts to earthwork and concrete jobs, roads/bridges/construction jobs, grow businesses, storage units, livestock farms, health centers and commercial buildings of all types, infrastructure projects such as sand-salt sheds and municipal buildings, etc. WAREBUTLER.COM CONTACT US for your non-residential and commercial construction needs across Maine. Put our statewide buying power and experienced sales team to work for you! industrial@warebutler.com Fabric / Pipe / Culverts / Styrofoam insulation / Construction lumber Sheet goods / Millwork / Metal roofing and siding products PRODUCTS OFFERED: CUSTOM WORK AVAILABLE C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » Vast forests Maine has an abundance of natural resources: 17.6 million acres of forest land that covers 89% of the land area The largest contiguous forest east of the Mississippi River 90% of land privately owned A spruce-fir-northern hardwoods zone that blankets most of the state's northern half, where conifer-dominated and hardwood-dominated forests are entwined with each another. S O U R C E S : Maine Office of Business Development, originalmasstimber.com