Written on: July 19, 2021
Short for ethyl levulinate, EL 100 is a new biofuel we can look forward to in the near future. It’s created through the processing of woody fiber waste that comes out of lumber and paper mills. Biofine Developments of Northeast Inc., a privately owned corporation based in Bangor, Maine, is at the forefront of this innovation, working in partnership with Sprague Resources LP of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
EL 100 is a greenhouse-gas-negative fuel, so as it is incorporated over the next several years, we’ll be better positioned to meet the industry’s 2019 resolution to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
As the industry approaches the commercialization of EL, Biofine Developments of Northeast Inc. and Sprague Resources LP have joined forces for the production and marketing of EL, according to a press release from Sprague Energy.
Grant funding for EL production came to Biofine from the Maine Technology Institute’s Emerging Technology Challenge for Maine’s Forest Resource, in 2019. The team Biofine has assembled includes the University of Maine-Forest Bioproducts Research Institute, which was instrumental in working with Biofine to present the technology at pilot scale. The team also includes Treadwell Franklin Infrastructure Capital, which serves as development agent. They will be part of advancing projects that produce EL at scale.
EL 100 is poised to join Bioheat® fuel as an option that enables families to keep their current home heating systems while drastically reducing their own carbon footprint. It is expected to be available commercially by 2023.
Learn more about home heating in Maine by exploring Maine Energy Facts to learn about the wide range of fuels on the market now and what’s coming in the near future.