Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo

2026 Presenters

Wood Bioenergy in Transition: Where the Next Opportunities Will Emerge

This presentation will examine the direction of the wood bioenergy sector and what it means for market participants today. It will provide a concise industry outlook, highlighting how demand patterns are evolving and how competitiveness is being reshaped across regions. The session will explore the changing role of wood in decarbonization and offer a forward-looking perspective on where future growth, risk, and innovation are likely to concentrate.

From Biomass to Bioenergy: The Journey of Wood Pellets

A forward-looking review of the global wood energy sector and its role in the broader renewable landscape. Scott will discuss Enviva’s continued momentum and focused strategy for long-term success centered on growth and innovation, reflected in milestones such as the opening of its new Epes, Alabama facility. This session will explore a perspective on where the industry is heading, the opportunities ahead, and the challenges that may shape the future of biomass-to-bioenergy solutions.

Optimize Your Mill Infeed with Electrical Knuckleboom Loaders

Electrical knuckleboom presentation of various OSB, chipping and sawmill installations, providing and creating ideas to increase mill infeed, improve reliability and safety. Will feature Tanguay’s latest remote-control loaders, the smaller 10-ton class and the monster 70-ton class loaders and the innovative Swap Boom Controls. Will also present the benefits of using electrical power in lieu of diesel to reduce cost and enhance environmental benefits.

Engineered Protection In High Fire Risks

Jörgen will present the key fire risks in pellet production, focusing on hot black particles, smoldering material and friction-related overheating being causes of both major fires and costly frequent production stops. Using examples he will explain why these ignition sources often bypass conventional detection systems and how they spread rapidly in continuous pellet processes. The presentation outlines Firefly’s combined preventive and protective approach: True IR detection and extinguishing for hot black particles and Quick Suppression Systems for machine-protection. The aim is to show how engineered protection of each high-risk zone significantly reduces downtime and improves safety in pellet production.

Charting the Next Chapter for the Wood Pellet Industry

This session highlights how the U.S. pellet industry is preparing for its next chapter, expanding its relevance from a reliable renewable fuel to a strategic climate solution across energy, industry, and carbon removal value chains. 

Profitable Solutions to the Residuals Challenge

The forest product industry has, particularly near paper mill closures, struggled to find a home for its residuals. The Floyd Holdings group of companies has been actively involved in building profitable alternative utilization of those residuals. They have been involved in most of the scaled biochar production plants in North America to date, built the most efficient pellet plants and now offer a compelling combined heat and power (CHP) solution.  

Cogeneration and Biochar—Developing Products and Markets

Over 15-years of small-scale cogeneration and the pathway to developing biochar products and markets.

Keeping Facilities and Personnel Safer

Spark detections and extinguishment—an overview of sparks and how they are detected and extinguished, including the latest technologies from GreCon to assist in helping keep facilities safer; with emphasis on specific areas of biomass facilities that need to be protected with spark detection and a review of what detectors and extinguishment do this the best.

Fiber and Timber Markets and Supplies

Markets for wood fiber in the U.S. have been changing, particularly for smaller diameter wood and byproducts. Amanda provides an update on timber market dynamics and how these impact wood demand and timber supply. She includes updates on announced mill openings and closings with potential impacts of these on timber and residual supplies moving forward. 

Transitioning of the U.S. South’s Forestry Economy

Georgia’s forest products industry is a cornerstone of the state’s economy and a vital component of critical infrastructure across the U.S. South. Examining the evolving forestry economy amid shifting market dynamics, including rising wood demand alongside pulp and paper mill closures, this presentation will explore how and why the U.S. South, anchored by Georgia’s vast timber resources, skilled workforce, and strong logistics network is uniquely positioned as the hub for forestry-based innovation and next gen forest products. The discussion will also highlight emerging and innovative opportunities and how these advancements can strengthen resilience, sustainability, and long-term growth across the forestry sector. From operational stability and increased export capacity to bioenergy expansion and positioning Georgia as a bioeconomic leader, panelists will share insights on challenges, opportunities, and strategic pathways to elevate and sustain this critical industry.  

Shaping the Future of Forest Products: One Small Organization’s Work to Revitalize Forest Markets

Whether developing a platform that provides consistent carbon data for tracking and use across forest product supply chains or helping to support the standards needed for biochar trading, the Endowment is laser focused on transitioning our forest-based bioeconomy to unlock value for future generations of forest owners and communities.

Louisiana Green Fuels (LGF) Project Journey—Important Lessons Learned During the Last 24 Months

The bankability of gasification technology continues to be challenging for all projects contemplating the use of biomass as a feedstock. Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is the key component and economic driver for a biomass project to successfully be financed and executed today. There is significant opposition to CCS in many parts of the country, and as a subset of that opposition CO2 pipelines are specifically targeted. LGF has phased their project, initially planning to deliver a biomass-fired power plant with CCS with plans in a later phase build-out a biorefinery or additional low-carbon power facilities. LGF sits atop and fully controls their CO2 reservoir, with all economic benefits staying in the local community.

State of Forestry in Georgia: A Challenging Year Behind Us and Market Opportunities Ahead

2025 was a tough year for forestry in Georgia. Pulp mill closures dominated the headlines, but there areopportunities on the horizon. This presentation will focus on Georgia, and the impact of mill closures on loggers, foresters, truck drivers and landowners. What strategies are being developed to address the decline of this key market for small diameter timber? What potential does bioenergy play in filling the market void left in the areas of the state where pulp mills have closed?

Defending Against Process Hazards — Integration of Fire, Explosion, and Emergency Shutdown Systems with a Multi-Tiered Safety Approach

This session explores how manufacturers can enhance their process safety by deploying integrated layers of protection, including fire detection, explosion mitigation, and emergency shutdown systems. The discussion highlights a systems approach that moves beyond standalone solutions, focusing instead on how layered safety architectures—combining passive, active, and procedural safeguards—can effectively mitigate critical risks such as fires, explosions, and process upsets. Key takeaways will include: the evolving nature of process safety risks in modern plants; best practices for integrating fire, explosion, and ESD (Emergency Shutdown) systems; how multi-tiered safety strategies improve overall risk reduction; deployment challenges, lessons learned, and real-world examples.

Project Selection & Predictability

Many wood products manufacturing projects continue to rely on a progressive design–bid–build approach that can struggle to keep pace with today’s technical, schedule, and integration demands. While familiar, this model often leads to late design alignment, frequent change orders, and difficulty managing cost and risk. As capital projects become more complex and internal project management expertise declines, alternative strategies are increasingly necessary. This presentation explores contract approaches that emphasize early collaboration, balanced flexibility and certainty, and shared accountability. Drawing from industry experience, it will examine variations of EPC/design–build and construction manager at risk (CMAR) and how these models can improve coordination, clarify risk allocation, and support more predictable outcomes. The session is intended to encourage discussion around contract selection as a strategic decision for modern wood products facilities.

Leveraging U.S. Pellet Production to Fuel Modified U.S. Coal Stations for Powering Data Centers

The UK “bridge policy” will reduce UK pellet imports by at least 4 million metric tonnes per year beginning in early 2027. About 80% of UK pellet imports come from the U.S. U.S. pellet producers will face a very challenging external shock to their market. Meanwhile, electricity demand for datacenters is increasing rapidly. Some datacenters need nearly a gigawatt of 24×7 “baseload” power. Many of the datacenter developers such as Microsoft and Meta want “green” power. Repurposing selected U.S. coal-fueled power stations to use sustainably sourced pellet fuel will solve the their problem and will provide a lifeline to U.S. pellet producers. And the solution can be implemented in months.

Revolutionizing Plant Design: Brownfield Projects with Precision and Innovation

3D Plant Design workflows provide a secure solution for companies navigating the complexities of change management. Meticulous 3D laser scanning captures the existing environment in detail. A three-dimensional virtual replica of your plant offers fully exploitable data and images. The captured data facilitates collaborative, rapid, and unparalleled prototyping processes. This fosters an environment of heightened productivity, reducing the need for extensive rework. This cross-industry approach introduces innovative solutions not conventionally available, promoting a cutting-edge approach in plant design and construction.