Potlatch Corp. confirmed that it and several partners are studying the feasibility of a pilot biorefinery for converting forest and agricultural waste to biofuels and other chemicals at its Cypress Bend, AR, pulp and paperboard mill.

Potlatch officials stressed that the partners — who include Winrock International, the University of Arkansas at Monticello, and the Division of Energy of the Arkansas Department of Economic Development — were preparing a response to a January 2006 solicitation from the US Department of Energy (DOE) for integrated biorefinery pilot projects. The partners hope to receive a DOE grant to develop the project, an outgrowth of Potlatch’s participation in Agenda 2020 Technology Alliance.

Potlatch officials cautioned that biomass gasification is cutting-edge technology, with high technical and financial risks. However, Harry Seamans, vice-president of Potlatch’s pulp and paperboard division, explained that Potlatch could cut both natural gas consumption and purchased electricity very significantly. “Our Cypress Bend mill could potentially reduce natural gas usage by 1,600,000 MMBTU per year and purchased electricity by 80,000 MWH per year,” he said.

Tom Belin, senior production engineer at Cypress Bend, explained that the pilot operation, if successfully developed, would bring agricultural and forest residual (waste) biomass from throughout the Mississippi Delta and southeast Arkansas to the Cypress Bend plant where existing technology, newly applied to the industry, would use gasification and catalytic processes to convert it to a crude oil to be further refined into fuel products and a variety of chemicals. www.potlatch.com. PI