Distilling the Forest: A history of biofuels and the American Wood Sugar Company

• In Event: Extractivism, Environments, and Encounters: Legacies of interaction and relationship

Abstract

Wood and other biofuels are among the oldest forms of energy and, globally, they remain the most widely-consumed sources of renewable energy. While most people may be familiar with residential woodstoves or commercial boilers that run on solid fuels such as wood chips, in the twentieth century, engineers and chemists sought new ways to produce energy from the nation’s forests through distillation and thermochemical processes. Remote outposts such as Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which housed one of the world’s largest and longest-running wood distilleries from 1934-1968, became centers of technological innovation as the region’s abundant forests were turned into complex chemical compounds that fueled global commodity chains. This project examines the relationship between the American Wood Sugar Company and the Cliffs Dow Chemical Company, and the broader economic, environmental, and political challenges involved in the production of methanol, also known as wood alcohol. This research explores the social and environmental impacts that early attempts to industrialize biofuel production had on communities throughout Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and reveals important linkages between different extractive industries in the region, including mining, logging, and chemical manufacturing. By examining social and environmental histories of wood alcohol in the twentieth century, this research aims to contribute to contemporary discussions about the environmental justice implications of biofuel production.

Author

• Sarah Mittlefehldt, Northern Michigan University