Crane & Co. to build biomass plant

In the US, Dalton, Massachusetts-based Crane & Co. is looking to build a $75 million (€54.2 million) biomass plant.

Crane & Co. is a manufacturer of paper products used in the printing of national currencies, among other products.

The company supplies paper to the federal government on a four-year basis, but as the government looks for all of its contractors to adopt green technology, the company's VP Douglas Crane explains: 'We're going to make the greenbank even greener. The price of energy is a business challenge. The more we can take ourselves out of the volatile worldwide petroleum market and use our dollars here in Berkshire County, the better.'

The plant has been proposed for the Ashuelot Park industrial complex, on the Dalton-Pittsfield border. It would utilise primarily wood sourced from within a 35-mile radius, including forestry wood chips but not construction and demolition debris. This could amount to 35 truck tips a day.

Around 100 full-time jobs will be created at the plant, in addition to the 100 construction workers required throughout the construction phase, beginning in 2013 and lasting for around 18 months. The plant will commence operations in 2015.