Bethel, ME – Maine Energy Systems has worked with Trans Tech Industries, Inc. of Brewer, Maine, and Tropper of Redlham, Austria, to manufacture the first fully pneumatic bulk pellet delivery truck in the U.S. This truck will efficiently deliver wood pellets in bulk to homes, businesses, and institutions.
Based on successful European design and the use of the Tropper aeration beds, this pressurized body delivers pellets into bins, storage rooms and silos at high rates of speed with minimal damage to the fuel. This truck moves a ton of pellets in under 4 minutes, a marked improvement on earlier mechanical/airlock designs which averaged 14 minutes a ton.
This is an important milestone along the way to creating a wood pellet distribution infrastructure in the northeastern U.S. For several years there have been highly efficient centralized heating solutions with wood pellet fired boiler systems for home and business. Now the fuel delivery engineering in the US has caught up with the heating technology.
The Northeast burns more than 80% of the #2 heating oil consumed in the country each year. With sustainably harvested biomass, such as wood pellets, as a replacement for some of that consumption, we can reduce our dependency on foreign oil, bolster the regional economy, and greater reduce our carbon footprint.