Two years ago, a new industry came to Dallas County, proposing to produce and ship small pellets of wooden material across international borders from Dallas County. Titled Zilkha Biomass Energy, the company proposed to compress wooden material into small, black pellets for use in European factories. Zilkha previously made a business out of harnessing wind energy, but this time it was going to produce a product that is literally one of a kind.
The process officially began in 2010 when Zilkha purchased more than $6.2 million in equipment in a bankruptcy sale from a facility near International Paper’s Dallas County mill. The facility formerly belonged to Dixie Pellets, which produced a similar product, though Zilkha’s patented black pellet, reportedly produces more energy than a normal wooden pellet and is waterproof.
“When we are talking about pellets, just about everything that is produced is a white pellet,” said Zilkha spokesman Johnathan Ohueri. Zilkha’s initial estimates were to bring 52 full-time jobs and produce as much as 275,000 tons of its material. The Dallas County facility would become main production site for the pellets, with a facility in Crockett, Texas — between Houston and Dallas — transitioning to a research role, Ohueri said.
Pellets aren’t commonly used in the United States to power factories or harness energy. In Europe, biomass, including wooden pellets, represents more than 8 percent of the total energy consumption, according to the European Biomass Association’s 2013 annual report. The report said the pellet industry has grown rapidly in recent years, amounting to 8 million tons in 2012.
In reality, Zilkha is one of many U.S. pellet industries. In fact, pellet plant announcements in the southern United States, led all other new biomass projects since 2010, according to the U.S. Industrial Pellet Association.
From The Selma Times-Journal: https://www.selmatimesjournal.com/2014/06/30/zilkha-breathing-new-life-into-river-industrial-complex/