Maine's natural resources (Old Town: environment, vacation, university)

[flycessna]

I've been reading about the amount of resources this country has.....basically the article was pushing for energy independence and talking about America is the Saudi Arabia of coal, the oil shale in the mid west, the natural gas off the coast of Florida ect.

I am wondering…..aside from paper, its beauty and destination for vacationers, What does Maine have in the way of natural resources? Is there any potential for the state to take advantage of them?

[Labamba]

I think trees, aka biomass would have to be considered the most plentiful resource. Others might add wind and tide. I don't believe that Maine has underground energy resources such as coal or oil, but I could be wrong. Probably the major initiative going on is the effort of Red Shield Environmental in Old Town, in collaboration with the University of Maine, to establish a process whereby wood can be chemically converted to ethanol which can be used as energy. See Red Shield Environmental, LLC

[Maine Writer]

Red Shield is down. The state lacks an adequate biomass supply to meet demand right now. There are also other factors involved with the shut down. Red Shield is one of the first to fall.

[Labamba]

Yes, you are correct, but I think they intend to re-open when they get their wood supply issues fixed. At least that's what I read in the paper. You think they're down for the count?

[Maine Writer]

Wood prices are very high and not likely to drop. They burn little debris and don't have the financial ability to compete with large mills. There are very few biomass users not at risk right now.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Maine has great rivers to use for hydro power. Unfortunately our dams are being removed to make it more convenient for fish. The environmental industry is actively opposing any new dams.

Maine has a reliable supply of wind, especially on the ridge tops. The envioronmental industry wants any wind mills to be at the bottoms of valleys where they cannot disturb their "viewscapes". Of course there is nearly no wind there, but their ultimate intent is to make any economic development in Maine unprofitable so it won't happen.

[Labamba]

You mean they're gonna starve us out?

[Maine Writer]

A lot of us are wondering the same thing, and not just about Red Shield.

There's active research on wave power happening off the coast of Maine now.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

They're trying Labamba. It is their stated goal. They want to "rewild" half of North America and we are tops on the list. This is not some theory. It is their stated intent. If you have some time on your hands, just Google "the wildlands project".

Sleep well.

[flycessna]

Originally Posted by Labamba

I think trees, aka biomass would have to be considered the most plentiful resource.

There are other and better avenues for bio mass production. Arundo Dorax, considered an invasive weed by many, can be turned into bio fuel....in the right climate (south america) this weed can grow 25ft in a single season and you can get 2 crops a year.

I see a big future in this as I think many natural gas plants producing electricity will switch over to fuel pellets once all of this comes online.
Where will Maine stand in all of this?