SynSel Energy to develop biofuels plant in Bemidji, Minnesota

August 26, 2019

SynSel Energy, Inc. of Elk Grove Village, IL announced plans to develop a biorefinery in Bemidji, Minnesota on the former site of the Ainsworth Lumber Co. oriented strand board mill. SynSel will repurpose the same renewable wood feedstock formerly used by the Ainsworth mill to produce 90,000 gallons per day of environmentally responsible advanced “tank ready” synthetic biofuels. 

SynSel CEO Tim Tawoda stated, “In addition to being surrounded by an abundance of available wood feedstock, the Bemidji, MN site is also adjacent to a wood mill operation that may provide our plant with wood processing residues for additional feedstock. The Bemidji site also has the industrial and transportation infrastructure necessary for a SynSel plant. The SynSel plant will bring needed employment to the area across many sectors of the community. This 360-acre site is owned by a SynSel stakeholder and will be the next brownfield site in the biorefinery development queue after the Ontonagon Michigan site.”

Regarding the environmental benefits of SynSel fuel, Tawoda explained, “While electric vehicles represent a 56% reduction in life-cycle greenhouse gas reductions compared to conventional vehicles, SynSel fuels represent life-cycle greenhouse gas reductions of over 90% using the same comparison.”