This one is real actually...
Unfortunately, so were Thermogen's torrification plant
s in Millinocket and Eastport, as was FE Wood's plant in Baldwin, as was International Wood Fuels in Burnham Junction, as was/is? Carrier's wood chip project in Eastport that has been one to two months from starting for years. And while not wood fuel-related, I'm tempted to throw in MB Bark in Auburn. A real, live business that got a siding built by the state that, contrary to all the hype about them shipping immediately, apparently remains unused.
Causes for a raised eyebrow regarding this project are manifold: Mr. House's ambitious timetable is not realistic. He's apparently never worked in the wood fuels market, but expects to go from concept to purchasing logs for chipping operations within the next month... and to full-scale operations by the end of this year. Also, he's got the development backward: Phase I is to rehab the rail infrastructure and phase II is to build the plant? Better still, he doesn't even have a plant designed and he knows what rail infrastructure is needed? If it works, great, but this just doesn't smell right.