The first in a two-panel review of the best practices in dust hazard mitigation, this panel begins with three comprehensive presentations looking wholistically at-risk mitigation in the biomass sector. The panel’s concluding presentation examines the suitability of spiral ducting in the context of dust hazard mitigation. Biomass operators looking to sense check the robustness of their own dust hazard strategies will appreciate the breadth of these hazard mitigation discussions as well as the continuing innovation of the technology providers featured here.

• Bob Petrochko, Dustcon Solutions, Inc.
  Safeguarding Biomass Operations Part 1: Lessons Learned From DHAs at 15 Biomass Pellet Plants
• Jeramy Slaunwhite, Rembe, Inc.
  Demystifying Combustible Dust Explosions - Hazards, Prevention and Protection Strategies
• Shingo Watanabe, Linde, Inc.
  Safe Management Of Fire, Explosion and Toxic Risks In Woody Biomass Pellet Storage
• Zack Baldwin, Hallam-ICS
  Don’t Judge a Duct by its Spiral

This panel fixes its attention broadly on the rapidly growing interest and excitement for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Airlines are clear in their interest in buying and burning significant quantities of low-carbon, bio-derived jet fuel as they work to decarbonize their operations yet cracking the code of profitable SAF production so far remains elusive. The panel promises a three-pronged look at production technologies, available funding mechanisms and market speculation for SAF.

• Gord Crawford, Expander Energy Inc.
  Biomass Gasification and FT conversion into Renewable Synthetic Paraffinic Diesel and Jet
• Mark Riedy, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
  State-Of-The-Art Funding and Offtake Structures for SAF Projects

Granola Bars, Coffee, Tea, Soda

This panel will take conference’s dust hazard mitigation conversation beyond the sweeping overview offered in the afternoon’s first session, offering in-depth presentations about the role remote sensing and spark detection can play for producers looking to leverage best-in-class technologies. The technologies featured in this panel allow biomass operators to have visibility on accumulating dust or the more immediate threat of a spark with enough time to deploy difference making countermeasures.

• Robert Baxter, B3 Systems, Inc.
  Remote Sensing of Accumulated Wood Dust
• Todd Havican, Fagus GreCon, Inc.
  Emerging Technologies in Spark Detection and Extinguishing
• Bob Petrochko, Dustcon Solutions, Inc.
  Safeguarding Biomass Operations Part 2: Lessons Learned From HACs at 15 Biomass Pellet Plants
• David Bursell, MoviTHERM
  How IoT and Thermal Imaging are Revolutionizing Biomass Early Fire Detection

Hydrogen has emerged as a platform energy product of sorts with incredible promise and interest from the federal government as a major contributor to national decarbonization aims. This panel will explore the opportunities for hydrogen production from the world’s abundant biomass resources. Attendees will hear presentations about the technologies capable of producing hydrogen from biomass streams, the applications where it offers the most value and the emerging markets most likely to offer real opportunities for project developers.

• Jeff Norton, V-Grid Energy Systems, Inc.
  Mobile Blue Hydrogen Production
• Veshal Venkat, Southwest Research Institute
  Renewable Strategies for Hydrogen Production
• John Pierce, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
  EFuels - CO2 as Feedstock and Biomass
• Scott Vanderau, ETA Energy Transaction Advisors
  The Current Landscape of Biomass to High-Value Products Projects in Development

BBQ Chicken Flatbread, Veggie Flatbread, Mushroom Caps with Italian Sausage, Mac & Cheese Poppers, Beer, Wine, Soda

Sausage, Egg & Cheese Croissants, Bacon, Egg & Cheese Croissants, Egg & Cheese Croissants, Yogurt, Fruit, Coffee, Tea

Southern Charmer Buffet with Fried Chicken and Pulled Pork, Coffee, Iced Tea, Water

This practical, step-wise overview of the entire wood pelleting process is populated entirely equipment purveyors who have heard and seen it all. The presentations are steeped in the decades of experience and will reflect the best practices being deployed in the market today. This panel will examine the major set pieces in wood pellet production and wrap up with a primer on the value of deploying regular and consistent maintenance protocols.

• Kyle Hoffman, CPM
  Material Preparation and Co-Densification
• Timo Mueller, SALMATEC
  The Pelleting Process
• Jason Kessler, KESCO, Inc.
  Pellet Cooling & Storage
• Holger Streetz, Bathan AG
  Key Maintenance Tasks in Wood Pellet Plants

So much of biomass preparation is committed to driving off unwanted moisture. This operational step requires tremendous amounts of energy at a significant expense. This panel’s foundation are presentations rooted in emerging technologies that offer producers a new approach to a timeless operational task. The discussion is rounded out with a look at pressure measurement and a final presentation the risks of self-heating in stored biomass.

• Evan Nyer, Carbon Captured Naturally
  Using Dry Conditions to Store Biomass
• Yves Marc Schade, STELA Drying Technologies Corp.
  Exhaust Gas Condensation – Thermodynamic Benchmark and Potential Of High Efficiency Drying Technology
• Ravi Jethra, WIKA
  Innovations & Best Practices for Monitoring Pressure in Biomass & Thermal Power Stations
• Vahid Ebadat, Stonehouse Process Safety
  Self-Heating Hazards of Biomass Materials

Lackluster and less than planned for biogas production has doomed more than a handful of biogas projects. Presentations in this panel are laser focused to achieving planned for biogas production, maintaining desired production levels consistently and pushing production ever higher. The presentations will look at technological and biological approaches as well as feedstock regimes all aimed at the singular goal of increased volumes of produced gas.

• Sameer Kshirsagar, Komax Systems, Inc.
  Increase Biogas Production
• MacKenzie Bernhard, Econward
  Chemical and Biological Approaches to Increased Biogas Production: Thermal Hydrolysis

Long hailed in biomass energy circles for their ability to convert a wide variety of feedstocks into easily convertible bio-intermediates, pyrolysis and gasification continues to attract researchers and technology developers alike. This panel features presentations that look closely at the progress to bring the technologies along to commercial relevance, fully leveraging the feedstock flexibility of these conversion approaches. Platforms capable of producing renewable natural gas, biofuels and power will all be discussed.

• Jayant Khambekar, Jenike & Johanson, Inc.
  Jen-Zero System for High Pressure Gasification for Advanced Biofuels
• John Tharpe, American BioEnergy Converting Corp
  Pyrolysis System Review

Cookies, Coffee, Tea, Soda

Experienced wood pellet producers know that without high quality inbound feedstock, producing a high quality finished pellet is virtually impossible. This panel will offer attendees an in depth look at strategies to improve the quality of the material being delivered to waiting presses. The discussion will begin by examining feedstock procurement strategies before pivoting towards two presentations offered by work being done at our national labs to optimize biomass screening and blending approaches to increase pellet consistency.

• Wedig Graf Grote, STELA Drying Technology Corp.
  The European Pellet Plant - Raw Material Sourcing and Drying
• Kyle Pukylo, NuCycle Energy
  Synergizing Feedstock Procurement Strategies with Fuel Quality Standards: A Comprehensive Approach
• Zach Smith, Idaho National Laboratory
  Blending Biomass For Higher Quality Pellets
• Neal Yancey, Idaho National Laboratory
  Using Mechanical Screening and Air Classification to Reduce Variability and Increase Pellet Quality

More than one operating biomass energy production site has been vexed by material handling challenges, failing to achieve planned for throughput because operational teams couldn’t deliver enough material to plant reactors. Attendees charged with efficiently and effectively managing plant woodyards will appreciate this nuts-and-bolts panel populated with equipment purveyors highly-skilled in solving even the most complex material handling challenges. Presenters will offer ideas on safe material handling with an eye on the preservation of the integrity of the inbound biomass material.

• Amy Duncan, Dos Santos International
  Sandwich Belt High Angle Conveyors Creating Energy Solutions in Harmony with the Environment
• Lewis Steven Beckham, PhD, Amos-Agmachinery, LLC
  Gentle Handling for Wood Pellets
• Mahdi Vaezi, Northern Illinois University
  Pipeline Hydro-Transport Of Biomass Feedstock For Biofuel Production Purposes

While opportunities exist for raw biogas, increased value is available for treated, high-purity biogas streams. This panel features the technologies available to project developers interested in capturing the highest available value for produced biogas. The panel concludes with a cost-effective, common-sense technology that opens the door to higher quality gas output for smaller landfill systems where gas cleaning has historically struggled to be an economically viable option.

• Vaughn Watson, Vector Systems Inc.
  5 Common Issues Affecting Your Biomass SCR Systems
• Rafael Sanchez, IntraMicron
  Sourcat™ Sulfur Recovery For Acid Gas And Remnant Gas Streams To Enable Traditional And Renewable Gas Production
• Joseph Curro, CDM Smith
  Simplified Treatment of Landfill Gas for Seasonal Use Applications

Lip service to low-carbon attributes and sustainable production no longer cut it for energy product off-takers. Their own sustainability and decarbonization efforts require measurable and verifiable results. Carbon intensity measurement has come a long way since the first iterations of the GREET model were developed and deployed and this panel will look closely at where measurement and verification approaches are now. This panel will explore the use of software, biogenic testing and supply chain forensics to provide biomass energy producers the scientific substantiation the market is calling for today.

• Andy Miller, Loamist
  Software for Accessing Low Carbon Feedstocks
• Benjamin Kling, Beta Analytic Inc.
  Biogenic Testing of Biofuels for Regulatory Compliance
• Henry Ines, Chainparency
  Sustainability and Validating Claims In Biomass Supply Chains
• Luca Pandolfi, Woodland Biomass Innovations
  Strength in Numbers: How to Leverage Partnerships in Public Outreach

Biscuits & Gravy, Scrambled Eggs, Fruit, Coffee, Tea

This panel, anchored by two data-rich presentations to set the stage, will turn towards an examination of the perceptions of policymakers, energy policy wonks and activists about the role biomass can and should play in our energy future. Any discussion of the future of the biomass sector without consideration of where public sentiment lies regarding the value proposition of biomass energy is incomplete. Attendees will hear firsthand what policymakers, investors, and the general public think of the sector and why it matters.

• Tim Portz, Pellet Fuels Institute
  By the Numbers: A Statistical Review of the U.S. Domestic Wood Pellet Market
• William Strauss, FutureMetrics
  The Future of The Industrial Wood Pellet Sector
• Trip Jobe, ResourceWise
  2023 and Beyond: Woody Biomass Feedstock Revolution and Its Impact on Investment and Innovation

Policymakers and state energy professionals continue to imagine energy futures with an ever decreasing carbon intensity. Net-zero energy is the dream scenario and for bioenergy to keep pace with its wind and solar cousins it will have to lean hard into technologies that can drive the carbon intensity of its energy products ever lower. This panel features four ideas to answer that call. Carbon capture, increased boiler efficiencies and novel technologies are all brought to bear on the challenge of ultra-low carbon biopower.

• John Bullock, Babcock & Wilcox
  Carbon Capture at an 18-20 MW Biomass-Fired Power Plant
• Bill Hunter, ProcessBarron
  Steam Turbine Efficiency in Biomass
• Daniele Castellani, Zuccato Energy, Inc.
  Power Generation from Biomass
• Valerio Magalotti, Yanmar R&D Europe srl
  A New Challenge In Lignocellulosic Waste Valorization Through Micro Scale Gasification System

Forward thinking technology and project development professionals continue to look for opportunities to deploy biogas solutions to solve industrial challenges. This panel begins with a case study of a brewery reducing its high solids load in outbound wastewater streams via anaerobic digestion. Another presentation will look at thermal applications where the purity of biogas streams is not critical. The panel concludes with what may well be the conference’s most in-depth exploration of digester covers and their impact on biogas operations ever.

• Sam Schutte, Synthica Energy, LLC
  Rhinegeist Brewing & Synthica Energy: Turning high strength wastewaters into renewable energy
• Joseph Curro, CDM Smith
  Combustion Based Alternatives for BioGas Utilization
• Nicholas Taricani, Remington & Vernick Engineers
  Designing A Digester System – It’s a Gas!

In the effort to commercialize SAF production there exist two parallel development tracks. One one track, conversion technologies are being developed and refined. On the other, researchers and entrepreneurs are working to imagine and develop feedstocks and feedstock supply chains capable of delivering consistent and economically viable material to production sites for SAF manufacturing. This panel explores the role that woody biomass and agricultural residues might play in this crucial next phase of low-carbon biofuels production and use.

• David Hughes, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, University of Tennessee
  Developing a Potential SAF Supply Chain from Woody Biomass in the Southeast
• Dane McSpedon, Hughes Energy Group
  SAF From Second Generation Cellulose Biomass - Comparison of ATJ to Other Pathways
• Jordan Godwin, Oil Price Information Service, LLC (OPIS)
  Navigating Sustainable Aviation Fuel Market Opportunities

The push towards decarbonization across all sectors of the energy economy continues to provide tailwinds for emerging biochar production technologies and deployments. This panel features novel biochar production approaches and the potential drive carbon out of applications ranging for heavy industry to forest management practices. These presentations will offer attendees an opportunity to hear how current market opportunities have propelled these innovative technologies towards commercialization and more widespread deployment.

• Andrew White, CHAR Technologies
  Biomass Upgrading to Biocoal & RNG Using High-Temperature Pyrolysis (HTP)
• Robert Kovach, Pyreg
  Scaling Biochar Production Plants To Meet The Increasing Need For Carbon Dioxide Removal
• Mustapha Ouyed, ONYM
  Revolutionizing Biomass: ONYM's Path From Innovative Development to Large-Scale Application

First generation bioenergy technologies were designed to convert feedstocks that already had established demand or were the by-products of other higher value manufacturing or animal production efforts. Corn for ethanol. Wood residues for pellet production. As the bioenergy sector reaches for even more market, the interest in establishing crops purpose grown for energy production remains high. The presentations in this panel will stake out the efforts to commercialize crops grown expressly for their ability to be readily converted to low-carbon bioenergy products.

• Chang-Jun Liu, Brookhaven National Laboratory
  Field-Grown Poplars With Engineered Nonconventional Lignin And Novel Flavonoids Show Enhanced Biomass Processability And Biofuel Yield
• Dane McSpedon, Hughes Energy Group
  Alternative Biomass to Biofuel - In Every Backyard

Biogas projects that get built are a reflection on the project development’s team ability to put together an operating plan with a high probability of delivering a financial return for investors. Savvy project developers consistently wring every dollar of revenue potential from their projects. This discussion will how project teams can successfully capture these varied revenue streams in biogas projects. The panel will then turn its focus to leveraging these solid project financials to attract vital equity partners to the project.

• Andrew Eastman, Husch Blackwell
  Biogas Joint Ventures - Sharing Risk and Reward
• Brad Huxter, Trillium / Love's
  Maximizing the Profitability of your Organic Waste
• Sammy Aso, Rivers State University
  Monetizing the Fertilizer Value of Liquid Fraction Digestate

While opportunities like ethanol blend-stock and SAF garner the majority of the attention from biofuels developers, there remain large, untapped markets for bio-derived chemicals and specialty fuels. The presenters in this panel will explore these alternative markets and the novel technologies, feedstock and feedstock processing approaches being developed to serve them. Presentations will focus on the opportunity to produce bio-intermediates ready to be upgraded into high value chemicals, specialty biofuels or hydrogen ready for dispatchable power production.

• Matthew DeWit, SixRing Inc
  Biofuels and Industrial Chemicals From Lignocellulosic Biomass
• Kevin Hershner, Tributary LLC
  E-Methanol: An Ideal Fuel to be made in the Heartland
• Chan Meza, Southwest Research Institute
  Unconventional Feedstock Processing

• Raj Kathuria, International BioRefineries, LLC
  Poultry Litter to Biofuels
• Guy Penard, Yilkins
  Unlocking Biomass Potential

Boilers are the beating heart of nearly every biomass power operation. It is here where the thermal energy of biomass combustion is converted into usable steam. Unless optimal conditions are achieved and maintained, the profitability of a biomass power operation is doomed. This panel embraces the mix of art and science that is boiler optimization and offers attendees practical guidance on how to achieve and maintain perfect boiler conditions.

• Lawrence Berg, RJM Corporation (USA), Inc.
  CFD Modeling of Typical Biomass Combustion Systems
• Cornelius van Tonder, BARA Consultants Inc.
  Combustion Considerations for Macadamia Nuts and High Volatile Biomass in Co-Fired and Biomass Boilers
• John Olver, Emisshield, Inc.
  Improving Financial and Sustainability With High Emissivity Coatings
• Nick Fischer, Detroit Stoker Company
  Fuel and Combustion Considerations for Renewable Fuels

The biogas industry has successfully filled its sails with the tailwinds provided by state and federal policy support. The federal Renewable Fuel Standard and California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard have been crucial in the sector’s exciting momentum. This panel will help attendees understand how these policies continue to propel the sector forward, the opportunities for project developers within the Inflation Reduction Act and how the decarbonization aspects of biogas production stands to catalyze even more opportunity for the sector in the future.

• Daniel Keating, EcoEngineers
  RNG Beyond RFS and LCFS
• Christopher Peterson, Husch Blackwell
  Inflation Reduction Act and Biogas Projects
• Ernie Pollitzer, Clean Energy Consultants
  EPA RFS Biogas Reform

This bonus densified biomass panel is dedicated to exploring how technology developers are working to drive the carbon intensity of wood pellets even lower, increasing their overall value. Presentations include a diverse array of technologies including torrefaction, pyrolysis, heat exchanger and carbon capture and sequestration. Attendees wondering about the future of densified woody biomass will appreciate and enjoy this forward-looking discussion.

• Fernando de Howitt, ARTi (Advanced Renewable Technology International)
  Pyrolysis of Biomass Pellets For Increased Profitability and Carbon Credits
• Bruce Bruso, CBA Environmental Services, Inc.
  Pellet Optimization with RBS BECCS+U Technology
• Jill Caskey, Solex Thermal Science, Inc.
  Decarbonizing Wood Pellet Production Through Moving Bed Heat Exchange Technology
• Mattias Erixon, Valmet, Inc.
  Benefits of Using BioTrac for Black Pellet Production