American Wood Sugar: A Social and Environmental History of Forest-based Biofuels in the US

FAIN: FT-298541-24

Sarah Mittlefehldt
Northern Michigan University (Marquette, MI 49855-2818)

Research leading to an article on the development of wood-based fuel at the Cliffs Dow Company (1935 to 1969) and its social, economic, and environmental consequences.

In December 1942, the American Wood Sugar Company submitted a proposal to the US War Production Board to create a wood alcohol plant that would produce one million gallons of fuel per year from American forests. The War Board strongly supported the idea and authorized the US Forest Products Laboratory to begin operations at an existing facility owned by the Cliffs Dow Chemical Company in Marquette, Michigan. The proposed project examines the development of wood-based power alcohol in the US and the broader social, economic, and environmental challenges involved in producing wood-based biofuel. Specifically, this research traces the history of the Cliffs Dow Company, which was the world’s largest and longest-running wood distillery from 1935-1969. Examining past attempts to industrialize wood fuel production may be useful to inform current debates about biofuel development, and to understand the often-hidden human and environmental histories embedded in renewable energy development.