Multi-million US biofuel project back on track

After six months of uncertainty Griffiss Utility Services (GUS) has confirmed an $18 million (€14 million) biofuel project will go ahead.

The project, to be housed in a vast hangar called Building 100, would allow GUS to use wood chip fuel alongside existing oil and gas pipelines that heats many buildings on-site at the Griffiss Business and Technology Park.

The project appeared to stall in late 2011 after Oneida County, which owns another large hangar based at the park, approved a plan for a gas pipeline that could one day be linked to Building 100.

‘Our new system won’t replace the old one and both could be used together to maximise cost effectiveness and efficiency,’ says GUS president and CEO Dan Maneen.

Maneen also said the decision to move forward made fiscal sense for GUS and for other tenants at the park.

‘I’m not going to hold my existing customers hostage if one goes off the system. I feel that the fact the project received $1.5 million in state grants through the Regional Economic Development Council also validates the plan,’ he adds.