KREMMLING, Colo. (MTN) -- More ambitious talk continues to come from Kremmling, where a company called Confluence Energy is now working 24/7 to process dead lodgepole pine trees into pellets that can be burned in stoves. The town of 1,600 people is located midway between Steamboat Springs and Winter Park
Next up is may be an operation that will mill the better logs into house-building timbers. Now comes new aspirations of a cellulosic ethanol plant. Mark Mathis, the chief executive of Confluence Energy, sees potential for production of 5 to 10 million gallons of ethanol per year. To do so will require a 25 percent increase in the amount of wood, or what is called "feedstock."
Company officials tell the Sky-Hi Daily News they have already invested $10 million and will spend another $50 million during the next two years.