January 29, 2008

OBEY APPLAUDS SELECTION OF WISCONSIN RAPIDS NEWPAGE MILL
FOR Small-Scale Biorefinery DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Seventh District Congressman Dave Obey (D-WI) applauded the selection of Wisconsin Rapids' NewPage Mill for one of four small-scale biorefinery demonstration project grants by the U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DoE) today.  

"Developing real, competitive, renewable energy alternatives to reduce our demand for foreign oil is a critical necessity for our future," said Obey. "So I'm glad the Department of Energy is moving ahead with support for this project and I'm happy to see Wisconsin workers paving the way for the rest of the nation with this new technology."  

The small-scale biorefinery demonstration projects are intended to test a wide range of novel conversion technologies and feedstocks to provide the information necessary to bring full-size, commercial-scale biorefineries online and make alternative motor fuels cost-competitive by 2012. 

Today's decision by U.S. DoE will result in up to $30 million in federal funds to help NewPage and its partners construct and operate a thermal gasification and gas-to-liquids plant at its Wisconsin Rapids mill to convert wood wastes to renewable diesel fuel.

NewPage's partners in this project include: TRI; Syntroleum; U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and the Alabama Center for Paper and Bioresource Engineering at Auburn University.

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