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The University of Maine's new Technology Research Center, located at Old Town Fuel & Fiber, opens today. The center will connect private industry with UMaine researchers to help commercialize developing fuel, chemical and advanced material technologies from forest bioproducts.

An opening ceremony for the center was held this morning and attended by state and UMaine officials, as well as business owners, according to a press release. Demonstrations of equipment followed. Business owners will be able to work with researchers in UMaine's Forest Bioproducts Research Institute to test, demonstrate and eventually commercialize new products.

The center has the ability to handle any cellulose-based feedstock, including forest residue and municipal solid waste. From those feedstocks, companies could experiment with bioproducts ranging from alternative fuels, nanocellulose and carbon fibers, and high-value industrial chemical byproducts. The TRC facility and equipment were capitalized in 2009 with a $4.8 million grant from the Maine Technology Asset Fund.

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