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Breakfast Burritos, Whole Fruit, Coffee & Hot Tea

For proponents of the technology, cracking the commercialization code on torrefaction is vital to truly unlocking power generation opportunities in North America for biomass. Torrefaction promises an upgraded biomass that burns hotter and handles easier than its non-torrefied precedents. This panel will offer attendees a chance to gauge the progress of both for-profit and research entities pushing towards a production system that delivers not only finished product, but also a return on investment.

• Dan Herren, President, Advanced Torrefaction Systems LLC
  Oxidation Catalysts: The Key to Commercial Torrefaction
• Donald Fosnacht, Associate Director, Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota
  Advanced Thermal Processing of Biomass at the Natural Resources Research Institute
• Hiroshi Morihara, CEO, HM3 Energy Inc.
  Biocoal Cheaper Than Wood Pellets
• Jagannadh Satyavolu, Theme Leader - Biomass & Biofuels, Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research, University of Louisville
  Biomass Pretreatment to Improve Economic Viability and Product Attributes for Torrefied Biomass Briquettes

Co-firing has long been targeted as a means of generating power with a lower carbon intensity without the capital intensity of building a wholly new generating asset. Still, co-firing is a long way from simply sprinkling biomass materials on top of inbound coal. This panel features a diverse array of presentations that illustrate what it really takes to efficiently fold biomass into an operating plan, how it impacts plant balance sheets and how it changes what is headed out the stack.

• Daya Ram Nhuchhen, Postdoctoral Associate, University of Calgary
  Modeling a Cement Plant to Examine the Effects of Alternative Fuel Co-firing on Material and Energy Flows
• Hoe-Gil Lee, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Tarleton State University
  Process Design and Development Strategies in a Small-Scale Biomass Energy Conversion System
• Tiffany Yelverton, Mechanical Engineer Combustion Sources Branch, U.S. EPA Environmental Protection Agency
  Emission Characterizations from the Torrefaction and Cofiring of Agricultural By-Products on a Pilot-Scale Combustor
• Wouter Kok, Sales Director, HoSt Bio-energy Installations
  Advantages, Developments & Case Studies of Small-scale, High Efficiency Biomass-Fired Heat and Power Plants (1-12 MWe, 2-50 MWth)

The financial success of any biogas operation hinges on its ability to achieve the level of gas production established in the project’s design phase. A failure to achieve anticipated throughput has doomed more than a handful of operations. This panel will feature both technological deployments and operational strategies designed specifically to increase biogas production allowing producers to achieve and maintain profitable output levels. Approaches presented will include everything from front-end fuel blending approaches to more efficient approaches for maintaining a steady operating temperature.

• Sameer Kshirsagar, Senior Applications Specialist, Komax Systems Inc.
  Innovative Mixing and Heating Technologies to Enhance Biogas Production
• Matthew Quinn, Applications Engineer, Siemens Gas Engines
  Fuel Blending: Maximizing the Benefits for Biogas Operations
• Joseph Curro, Principal Engineer, CDM Smith
  Well Dewatering Pumps Powered by the Sun Increase LFG Production
• Will Charlton, Lead Scientist, Digester Doc
  Case Study: How to Turn 2mW to 50 mW

Tenured project developers know that bringing investment partners off the bench is an exercise in limiting risk throughout the construction and operational phase of a project and showing a clear pathway to profitability. This panel balances presentations rooted in risk management paired with discussions about where to look first for financial partners hungry to participate in projects that have been thoroughly vetted, well-structured and likely to generate a profit on schedule.

• Jordan Solomon, President, Ecostrat Inc.
  Using Biomass Risk Ratings: Reliably, Effectively and Efficiently Signaling Feedstock Risk to the Capital Markets
• Mark Riedy, Attorney, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
  Cutting Edge Funding and Contractual Structures for Successful Bioeconomy Project Financing
• Ron Pagel, Business Development Manager, Power Engineers
  Building a Dynamic Capital Project Team
• David Livingstone, Managing Director, Citigroup Global Markets Inc.
  Financing Waste to Value in the U.S. Municipal Market

Mascarpone Marble Brownies, Coffee, Hot Tea, Soda

The last 10 years have seen unprecedented growth in global wood pellet production and use. The question facing industry participants now is where the industry is headed in the 2020s. To bet on continued steady growth assumes not only that existing subsidies for pellet-derived power survive and are extended, but also that new pellet-buying centers like Japan mature as hoped. Presenters will tackle these questions as well as newly emerging questions as to what the exploding wood pellet BBQ phenomenon might mean for domestic and global demand.

• Laurenz Schmidt, Technology Expert, FutureMetrics
  Global Wood Pellet Markets: Where We are Today and How Pellet Technologies May Respond to the Needs of the Future
• Bruce Lisle, CEO, Energex America Inc.
  Status and Trends of the U.S. Pellet Market
• Tim Portz, Executive Director, Pellet Fuels Institute
  Moving the Needle? What Explosive Growth in the Wood Pellet BBQ Sector Means for Producers

Fire and explosion mitigation experts are quick to remind plant operators that the science of how and why these upsets happen is well understood and that managing these risks is simply a matter of operational discipline. The panel begins with a review of the science of why fires and explosions occur at industrial facilities and then moves quickly into process specific abatement approaches, a review of some critical changes to some key NFPA standards and strategies for minimizing the damages from an explosion at your plant if one should occur.

• David Grandaw, Vice President - Sales, IEP Technologies
  Industrial Explosions Present Serious Risk
• Bil Thompson, COO, Thompson Dryers
  Preventing Fires and Explosions in Dryer Systems
• Jeff Davis, Director of Engineering, Conversion Technology Inc.
  Changes to NFPA Standards for Fire and Explosion Prevention
• Clive Nixon, Sales Manager, BS&B Pressure Safety Management
  Dust Explosion Protection Solutions for Biomass Fuel Production

Perhaps more so than any other segment of the broader bioenergy sector, biogas proponents and industry champions have successfully set their sails to capture the winds of state and federal policy. Each month biogas operations are awarded cellulosic RINs and California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard is incentivizing strong biogas project development across the West. This panel will examine why these policies have generated so much activity in the sector and how long it is likely to last.

• Ernie Pollitzer, Owner & Senior Engineer, Clean Energy Consultants
  Update of Renewable Natural Gas Market
• Roger Ford, CEO, Eureka Energy Corporation
  Conversion of Municipal Solid Waste to Renewable Natural Gas and the Certification of It as a Marketable Commodity
• Thomas Brill, Of Counsel, Greenberg Traurig LLP
  Alternative Fuel Standard Programs

Where would the broader bioenergy industry be without those individuals and organizations willing to take on the risk of developing first-of-their kind production technologies? To continue to advance the industry forward and open new markets, technologies must successfully walk the pathway from concept to bench-scale to pilot-scale and finally graduate to commercial-scale viability. This panel features technology developers who are pushing technologies down that path offering insights to ease the way for those that intend to follow.

• Kamaljit Sood, CEO, SaincBio-Sainc Energy Limited
  Flow Reactor Biomass and Biochemicals Technology
• Peter Flippo, Business Development Manager, Bioprocess Pilot Facility Netherlands
  Unlocking the Potential of Biomass: Taking your Product Development from Lab Scale to Commercial Scale
• Larry Schafer, Principal, Playmaker Stategies
  Biomass-based Diesel: Biodiesel vs. Renewable Hydrocarbon Diesel
• Lionel Danos, Biomass, Pulp & Paper Engineering & Project Manager, Clextral France
  Intensified Continuous Biomass Treatment by Twin Screw Extrusion

Croissant Sandwiches, Whole Fruit, Coffee & Hot Tea

Anyone who has planned or built an industrial-scale wood pellet plant in the last 10 years knows the steep climb that obtaining an air permit can be. This panel is split between two discussions that help attendees think about planning a strategic approach to obtaining a permit and two discussions centered on the technologies available to producers to comply with their permits once obtained. Together, these presentations promise a comprehensive and thorough review of what’s become a significant hurdle for new projects.

• Chuck Doyno, Atlanta Office Director, ALL4 LLC
  Operating with a Strategic Air Permitting Mindset: Increasing Operational Flexibility and Reducing Permitting Timelines
• Rodney Pennington, Vice President of Key Accounts, Nestec Inc.
  The Quest for the BEST in Pellet Mill Air Emission Control
• Pedro Araújo, CEO, Advanced Cyclone Systems S.A.
  Optimized Cyclones to Reduce Wood Dust and Fly Ash Emissions under 0,015gr/SCF after Rotary Dryers In Pellet Plants; Enabling the Use of Regenerative Thermal Oxiders (Rtos) without Wet Electrostatic Precipitators (Wesps) Upstream
• Brad James, Principal Consultant, Trinity Consultants
  Preparing for Public Interest: Pellet Plant Air Permits

This panel will assert and defend the idea the single most important safety effort a wood bioenergy facility can undertake today is a thorough dust hazard analysis (DHA). Presenters will outline how a DHA is the foundation that thorough and well-designed abatement and mitigation strategies are built upon. Whether your safety team has already completed a thorough DHA and are eager to hear about protection advancements or are just getting started and looking to generate some momentum in their program quickly, this panel is a must.

• Jason Krbec, Sales Engineering Manager, CV Technology Inc.
  Advances in Layers of Protection for Combustible Dust Hazards
• Jeff Nichols, Managing Partner, Industrial Fire Prevention Inc.
  The Combustible Dust Hazard Analysis (DHA)
• Timothy Heneks, Director of Engineering Services, Dustcon Solutions Inc.
  Low Hanging Fruit: 5 Common Dust Hazards to Address Quickly
• Vahid Ebadat, CEO, Stonehouse Process Safety
  Are you Now in Compliance with the Requirements of NFPA 652 Standard on Combustible Dust and if so, What is Next?

Any capital project must successfully navigate the ‘valley of death’ phase of development before they achieve a financial closing and groundbreaking and biogas projects are no exception. This panel will feature a multi-disciplinary look at the design, engineering, legal and financial attributes of biogas projects that survive this phase of the development cycle when so many others do not. This panel is a must for biogas developers ready to take a candid look at their project, where it shines and areas that may need to be shored up.

• Gus Simmons, Director of Bioenergy, Cavanaugh & Associates
  Building Investor and Lender Confidence in Biogas Projects
• Scott Warfield, Managing Director, CERES Project Services
  What Makes a Great Biogas Project
• John Dannan, Principal – Waste to Value Investments, Generate Capital
  Financing Organic Waste Infrastructure
• David Gardels, Partner, Husch Blackwell
  Legal Components of RNG Projects

Pyrolysis and gasification technologies continue to tantalize bioenergy professionals because of their ability to receive a heterogenous biomass stream and convert it into a suite of homogenous energy products and coproducts. But where are these technologies in their development and when will their potential be realized? The presentations in this panel will look to answer those questions while also articulating the differences between the leading approaches.

• Kelci Coates, Project Manager & Process Engineer, Frontline BioEnergy LLC
  Finally! An Economic Pyrolysis Process
• Melissa Leung, Business Development, GECA Environnement
  Variety in Pyrolysis Technologies for Biomass Transformation
• David LaMont, Vice President Project Development, SunGas Renewables
  SunGas Renewables Gasification Offering
• Wilson Lam, Managing Director, LAMPS Consulting Inc.
  Feasibility Study of Coupling Bio-Based Polyol Production Using Torrefaction Gas

As a conversion strategy, torrefaction can play the role of a great equalizer regarding inbound feedstocks. The technology’s BTU concentrating attributes apply to plastic as readily as they apply to woody biomass. The presenters in this panel will share their efforts to broaden the scope of the materials considered for torrefaction including paper waste, post-consumer plastics and intentionally grown industrial hemp.

• Kevin Kung, Postdoctoral Researcher, MIT
  Validation of a Small-Scale, Decentralized Biomass Torrefaction Reactor
• Shreyas Sunil Kolapkar, Project Engineer, Treamin Energy Inc.
  Paddle Reactor for Torrefaction
• Stas Zinchik, Project Manager, Treamin Energy Inc.
  Properties of Torrefied Waste Plastic-Fiber Pellets
• Becky Long, Dryer Design Engineer, Thompson Dryers
  Emerging Market: Drying and Torrefying Hemp for Power Production

Is biochar biomass in its most perfect form? As a material it seeks to eliminate some of the knocks against biomass including its affinity for moisture and its BTU-lite nature which is why work towards bringing biochar into the energy mainstream mix persists. Biochar’s utility as a soil amendment only serves to sweeten the pot. This panel will provide attendees with a close look at where the efforts to commercialize biochar production lie and what the potential is for those producers who can bring commercial-scale volumes to the market first.

• Anthony Goncalves, CEO, Nexx Energy
  Heat Recovery in a Zero-Emission Bio Char Plant
• Sunith Babu Madduri, Ph.D. Student, Mississippi State University
  Novel Oxone Treated Hydrochar for the Removal of Pb(II) and Methylene Blue (MB) from Aqueous Solution
• Melissa Leung, Business Development, GECA Environnement
  Wood Biochar as a Coal Replacement

The impact of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard to the biogas sector is difficult to overstate. Every biogas project currently under development is working to capture the opportunity for them generated by this policy whether they are sited in California or not. The discussions in this panel will offer insights for operators already up and running as well as project developers eager to add LCFS credit revenues into their project’s pro forma.

• Brad Pleima, Senior Engineer, EcoEngineers
  RFS & LCFS Regulatory Updates: RIN Prices & LCFS Validation/Verification Requirements
• Natasha Beilstein, Regulatory Consultant, EcoEngineers
  Innovative LCFS Pathways with Electricity and Hydrogen
• Jordan Godwin, Senior Journalist, OPIS
  RINs & LCFS Market Outlook for Biogas Production
• Valentino Tiangco, Biomass Program Manager, Sacramento Municipal Utility District
  LCFS Electricity Pathways: Cow Power to Charge Electric Vehicles in SMUD Region

There remains a committed group of innovators who rather than build conversion platforms that can overcome the challenges inherent in biomass, have stood that notion on its head and instead seek to build feedstocks more suitable for efficient conversion into fuel and energy products. The presentations in this panel will look at the potential for purpose-grown energy crops like giant reed, pennycress and varying algal species while catching attendees up on their promise and current momentum.

• Burton English, Institute Professor, University of Tennessee, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
  Economic Feasibility Analysis of a Pennycress to Sustainable Aviation Fuel Supply Chain: A Case Study of Nashville International Airport
• John McGowen, Certified Project Manager, Project Management Institute, Arizona State University
  Advancing the State of Technology in Algae Cultivation R&D
• Wendy Owens, Founder & CEO, Hexas Biomass LLC
  Densification of Non-Wood Biomass for Long Distance Transport
• Wichitra Singhirunnusorn, Director, Multidisciplinary Research Center for Environmental Sustainability (MRCES), Mahasarakham University, Thailand
  Potential Availability of Crop Residues for Decentralized Biomass Power Generation in Rural Thailand
• Mubashra Latif, PhD student of Eco-Innovation, University of Chester United Kingdom
  Upgrading Technically Challenging Grass Clippings for Power Generation through Additives Addition

• Arthur House, Executive Director, T. S. Laurent Forest Preservation LLC
  Heat Treated – Densified Woody Biomass Chips
• Mahdi Vaezi, Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Technology, Northern Illinois University
  Pipeline Hydro-Transport of Biomass Feedstock
• David Palmer, Vice President Engineering, WastAway
  Manufacturing a Consistent Supply of High-BTU, EPA-Approved Fuel without Depending on Markets Beyond Your Control

• Bob Cleaves, President & CEO, Biomass Power Association
• Patrick Serfass, Executive Director, American Biogas Council

This panel focuses largely on biogas optimization at landfill operations but makes room for a discussion tailored to woody biomass operators on whether they may qualify for landfill diversion credits. Operators of existing landfill operations will appreciate the attention to technologies available today to boost generated biogas while also opening the discussion up to bioenergy operators who may enjoy some financial rewards for being an alternative disposal destination for woody biomass streams.

• Joseph Curro, Principal Engineer, CDM Smith
  Positive Pressure under Landfill Cap Remediated using Corrugated, Flat, Perforated Collector Piping
• Brian O'Connor, President, Air Burners Inc.
  Landfill Diversion Credits via Woody Biomass Waste to Power

Look no further than first generation biofuels for an object lesson in the importance of coproduct revenues to plant balance sheets. Without them year-over-year profitability would be in doubt. The presentations that make up this panel frame-up potential coproduct opportunities available to producers of next generation biofuels. With an emphasis on using front-end analysis to determine the most viable opportunities these discussions will get attendees thinking more broadly about new revenue possibilities for their projects.

• Clark Dale, President/CEO, Bio-Process Group
  Paper Pulp and Coproducts from Non-Wood Biomass
• Neal Yancey, Engineer, Idaho National Laboratory
  Utilizing Sorting and Fractionation for a Consistent Feedstock Intensification and Coproduct Development
• Daniel Hayes, CEO, Celignis Biomass Analysis Laboratory
  Analytical Methods for Enhancing Revenue Potential from DDGS

Assorted Ice Cream Novelties, Coffee, Hot Tea and Soda

Throughout last year’s heating season and now in the early months of the 2019-2020 heating season, pellet producers have found themselves in the enviable position of having strong demand for every ton they can produce. The challenge for producers in this market is getting their hands on enough inbound raw material and keeping their mills up and running. This panel will offer producers proven lubricant and maintenance strategies that promise to keep the downtime gremlins at bay.

• Ivor Williams, Representative USA, Bathan AG
  The Cost of Service
• Frank Hayes, Sr. Technical Services Advisor, Petro-Canada Lubricants
  Pellet Mill Operational Savings Using Calcium Sulphonate Complex Greases

Adaptability has always been the biogas sector’s trump card. While digesters do cluster around certain agricultural, food-processing or waste processing opportunities, each year sees intriguing anaerobic digestion deployments. This panel will feature projects that have recently come online to share the story of their development, design and construction and early operation.

• Scott Warfield, Managing Director, CERES Project Services
  Case Studies: The New Economics of Biogas Projects
• Jeff Tocio, Business Development, Pentair Haffmans
  Case Studies in Bio-Methane and Green CO2 Value Streams from Biogas Recovery
• Brandon Julian, CEO, Pure Energy Group
  Past and Present Case Studies with IBR Technology