Erie Flooring and Wood Products has been producing truckloads of wood scraps and sawdust, 70 tons a day, for decades, with little choice but to burn or transport the waste. Neither option has been good for the environment.
Now, thanks to Canadian technology and a partnership with Vancouver's DynaMotive, the waste is ground into fine sawdust, vaporized, and converted to "bio oil." The company uses the oil to power a new turbine generator that produces 2,500 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power 1,400 homes.
The danger is that this might provide an incentive for even more forest destruction than already takes place. But if it can be fit into the existing amount of lumber production, it could be a highly desirable away of getting more use out of current waste products. Kudos to the companies involved; hopefully other businesses will follow their example.
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