Maine Energy Systems, an established pellet heat supplier, follows a different model, where clients own the appliances and buy pellets at market price. roots IN umAINe proJeCt Pelletco spun off from an effort at the Uni-versity of Maine to create a high-energy fuel pellet for industrial use by mixing plastic with wood. It won a $25,000 grant from the Maine Technology Institute last year to test the pel-lets for commercial production. Knight said the test was successful in making high-heat pellets that could cut air emissions at industrial plants, but the market didn’t embrace them. Pelletco is no longer pursuing the project, he said. Pelletco maintains an “alliance” with UMaine and its forest products research ca-pabilities. That includes appointing Michael Bilodeau, director of the university’s Process Development Center, as Pelletco’s chief tech-nology officer. Bilodeau serves as an unpaid officer for the company, Knight said. Through that alliance, Knight got interested in a business model to lower the cost of biomass systems in schools and large workspaces. The HeatPod is the product. Installation sites include two units at the Big Squaw Mountain ski area outside Green-ville; the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone; the China Lake Conference Cen-ter; the Mildred Fox Elementary School in South Paris; and the Center for Aquaculture Research in Franklin. Nick Brown, the aquaculture centre’s di-rector, said the HeatPod performed well last winter. Pelletco estimated that the centre would save $15,000 compared with oil heat. Brown said he hasn’t done the calculations yet but that may be on target. Pelletco has had at least one startup prob-lem, at the Mildred Fox School. The details are unclear. Knight said the problem involved balancing the temperature in the school’s steam heating unit. George Soffron, the president of Corinth Using our expertise in supervision & inspection, logistics, weight determination, sampling and laboratory services to support our clients in their contractual obligations. 115 James Drive West, Suite 150 Saint Rose LA 70087 504.468.5485 www.controlunion.com Single Source Solution BEL is an ISO 17025 Accredited solid biofuels laboratory which provides Certifications for Export Shipments along with EN Plus Auditing & Consulting. 1641 Sigman Road Conyers GA 30012 218-461-2579 www.biomassenergylab.com 16 Canadian BIOMASS september/oCtober 2013
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