Two Maine biofuel companies are getting some federal help. Maine's two senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, say Woods Pellet Company in Athens and Corinth Wood Pellets in Corinth will share $287,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Woods Pellet Company will get just over $163,000 of the money, while Corinth Wood Pellets will get nearly $125,000. The money comes from the USDA's Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels, which provides funds to expand production of advanced biofuels.
"This investment in Maine's biofuel producers is a meaningful step towards creating viable alternative energy resources and encouraging economic development and job creation in rural Maine at a time when small businesses throughout the state are struggling with the effects of the economic recession," Snowe and Collins say in a joint statement. "Investing in alternative energy sources will also lower production costs for these two renewable energy companies, and ultimately reduce energy bills for Mainers struggling with high energy costs."
Under the program, biofuels derived from cellulose, crop residue, animal, food and yard waste material, biogas from landfills and sewage treatment plants, vegetable oil and animal fat are eligible for funding. Biofuels derived from corn kernal starch don't qualify for the program.
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