Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo

2026 Presenters

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.