Biofuels company eyes Richmond County

A Maryland-based biofuels company wants to build several new facilities in the region, including one in Richmond County.Enviva, a biomass fuel producer, has proposed the construction of pellet plants in Richmond and Sampson counties, as well as one in South Carolina, the company said Monday.The three plants would export their product through a proposed terminal at the Port of Wilmington.The company says it is currently in the process of securing construction permits for the projects.Sampson County is slated to be the first facility in operation, followed by the proposed site in Richmond County.

County officials were tight-lipped about the proposed project, citing confidentiality agreements. 

 

The pellet mills take remaining round wood to dry, pulverize and compress into pellets. Any remaining product - bark, limbs and debris - is used to fire furnaces that dry the pellet wood.

 

European governments are providing economic incentives for industries to use environmentally neutral energy. Solar and wind power can't meet the demand, so large users, such as power plants, are turning to wood pellets.

 

The basic theory is that using a renewable energy, such as trees, won't add to carbon in the atmosphere because the next generation of trees will use that carbon as they grow. In contrast, using coal adds more carbon than will be used in future tree growth.

 

Because the mills will dry and pulverize wood, rather than "cook" or chemically dissolve it, the pungent "paper plant" odor is not present. The plant will produce dust, and a small amount of steam from wood drying operations. Both are regulated by state and federal guidelines.

 

“The development of these projects is expected to bring considerable environmental and economic benefits to the region,” Elizabeth Woodworth, marketing director for Eniva, said in a Monday release. “The demand for low-grade wood fiber, procured to the stringent standards of leading sustainable forestry organizations, encourages responsible forestry by enhancing financial returns for forest landowners and thereby providing them with an incentive to keep forests forested.”

 

The company expects to create more than 250 direct jobs in the region and support more than 450 jobs in related industries, if plans go through.

 

According to its website, Enviva currently has five facilities in three states, including two in northeastern North Carolina. The company has been “supplying wood chips and wood pellets to customers in the U.S. and Europe since 2007.”

 

An Enviva wood-pellet facility in Northampton County opened last May, boasting 79 full-time employees.That site produces wood pellets that are exported to European utility companies “as a low-carbon coal alternative to improve the environmental profile of energy generation.”

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