Papermaker NewPage continues feasibility study of biofuel refinery in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin; proposed plant would produce 370 barrels of renewable diesel fuel a day

Dec 30, 2009 — Forestweb

LOS ANGELES, December 30, 2009 (Forestweb) — Papermaker NewPage Corp. continues its feasibility study on building a small-scale biorefinery in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, despite previous projections the study would complete by the end of 2009, said a company spokesperson, The Post-Crescent reported Dec. 30.

Spokesperson Shannon Semmerling said Tuesday that feasibility studies take time to conduct, adding no new information was available to share.

The proposed refinery would produce 370 barrels of renewable diesel fuel a day, or about 5.5 million gal a year, from mill residue and wood chips, the newspaper reported. The Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune reported July 27 that NewPage would replace the use of natural gas at the mill and produce liquid biofuels that it then can convert into renewable diesel, Forestweb carried in a July 27 article.

NewPage has been looking at the project's feasibility since January 2008, when the Miamisburg, Ohio-based firm won a US$30 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, The Post-Crescent reported.

Once the study is complete, NewPage representatives will work with the Energy Department to determine how to proceed, Semmerling said previously. To get the grant, the project must be completed by 2012, according to the Energy Department.

Stora Enso North America originally submitted the request for federal money. NewPage inherited the project when it bought the former Wisconsin Rapids-based company in December 2007 for $2.6 billion, The Post-Crescent reported.

NewPage operates central Wisconsin mills in Wisconsin Rapids, Biron, Stevens Point and Whiting. It closed its Kimberly mill in September 2008.

The primary source of this article is The Post-Crescent, Appleton, Wisconsin, on Dec. 30, 2009.

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