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The state of Maine will be using one of its most abundant resources — wood — to heat up to 15 public buildings throughout the Pine Tree State under an $11.4 million funding award from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, according to state officials.
The Maine Forest Service, a branch of the Maine Department of Conservation, will get the federal stimulus funds and make them available through a competitive grant process to all Maine communities, giving preference to rural, economically depressed counties, the office of Gov. John Baldacci said.
The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, State and Private Forestry division. According to officials, the work created by the conversion to wood or wood pellet heating is expected to create approximately 200 jobs.
Baldacci said in a statement that he was inspired by a visit to Mt. Abram Regional High School in Salem Township, which uses a wood pellet furnace. The grant will create new, green-technology jobs in Maine, he said, and help the state showcase its forest-products and wood-energy industries.
In another alternative energy move, Baldacci and a handful of clean energy business officials are traveling to Europe in September to talk to companies, government officials and utilities about wind power, particularly offshore wind development.
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