Goat Cheese Mousse Crostini w/ Honey & Pecans, Mini Shepherd's Pie, Belgian Endive w/ Blackened Chicken Salad, Mini Irish Tacos (Guinness-braised short ribs w/ cabbage slaw), Stuffed Mushrooms Florentine, Beer & Wine, Soda

Ham & Swiss filled croissant, Bacon & Egg filled croissant, Spinach & Ricotta filled croissant, Fruit Yogurt, Coffee & Hot Tea

This first of a two-panel series on dust and fire control for pellet production facilities puts this vital discussion front and center at the International Biomass Conference & Expo. This panel will set the table for a robust discussion by outlining the basics of dust hazard analysis and fire prevention while leaving time for a detailed look at some of today’s leading detection and suppression approaches. Operators looking to drive fire and explosion risk are sure to appreciate the conference’s first afternoon being dedicated entirely to this crucial discipline.

• Rob Markle, Regional Sales Manager, IEP Technologies
  Industrial Explosion Protection for Biomass Facilities
• Jason Krbec, Sales Engineering Manager, CV Technology Inc.
  Inherently Safer Plant Design for Combustible Dust Hazards
• Vipul Dholakia, Technology Manager, Gas Applications, Air Products & Chemicals Inc.
  Fire Suppression for Biomass Storage Using Nitrogen Inerting
• Timothy Heneks, Director, Engineering Services, Dustcon Solutions Inc.
  Fire vs. Explosion Hazards in a Biomass Pellet Plant
• Holger Streetz, Director of Business Development, Bathan AG
  Handling Second Degree Feedstock

The logic is straightforward enough. Vehicles powered by electricity generated from renewable sources including biomass should qualify for renewable identification numbers (RINs) and be able to enjoy the revenue opportunities for those RINs in the market. The big question now is, will policy follow? This panel discussion will seek to answer that and others about the rapidly growing interest in what the Renewable Fuel Standard could mean for an industry that finds itself on the outside looking in at this country’s most successful piece of federal renewable energy policy.

• Brad Pleima, Senior Engineer, EcoEngineers
• Patrick Serfass, Executive Director, American Biogas Council
• Bob Cleaves, President & CEO, Biomass Power Association

The appeal of food waste streams as a digester input is two-pronged. First, these materials are abundant while also increasingly unwelcome in conventional disposal sites. Second, when processed correctly, food waste streams can reliably contribute to increased biogas production while often generating lucrative tipping fees. This waste stream brings a bevy of challenges however, and this panel will offer attendees a case-study supported look at the current best practices for maximizing the upside of food waste while minimizing its drawbacks.

• Michael Corbett, Director of Applied Science, Divert
  Developing Best Practices for Food Waste Digestion
• Justin Price, Principal, Evergreen Engineering Inc.
  Some Projects Give Green Energy the Green Light…and Some Die on the Vine
• Roger Ford, CEO, Eureka Energy Corporation
  Bio-Waste Conversion and Production of Liquid Transportation Fuel

The second chapter in the story of biofuels will be populated with those production approaches that were successful in convincing a roster of early adopters they were ready for prime time. This panel will feature presentations from innovators that have delivered technologies to the finish line and are finding willing investment partners. Rounding out the discussion are two presentations rooted in research efforts that seek to deliver more technologies to the market ready for investment and development.

• Jayant Godbole, President & Director, Praj Americas Inc. USA
  Simultaneous Production of Biochemicals & 2G Ethanol from Cellulosic Feedstocks
• Jordan Thut, Project Engineer, Attis Innovations
  Lignocellulosic Bio-Refinery with Contract R&D Capabilities
• Ananda Nanjundaswamy, Assistant Professor, Agriculture/Applied Sciences, Alcorn State University
  Insights from Yeast Transcriptomics: A Powerful Tool in Cellulosic Ethanol Production and Process Optimization

Freshly Baked Brownies, Coffee & Hot Tea, Soda

Continuing the conversation started in the afternoon’s first session, this panel will offer attendees the opportunity to imagine a best-in-class dust management and fire prevention program for their facility. Populated with a strong roster of technology providers and safe process practitioners, this panel will focus on operational discipline and the importance of early detection and suppression. Finally, a presentation featuring the 2019 NFPA 652 requirements assures attendees will receive content rooted in the most recent thinking and expertise.

• Jeffrey Nichols, Managing Partner, Industrial Fire Prevention LLC
  Spark Detection: Why Fire Prevention is So Important
• Vahid Ebadat, CEO, Stonehouse Process Safety
  Safe Processing of Combustible Dust: Compliance with Requirements of NFPA 652, 2019 Edition
• Derek Stuart, Global Product Manager - Power, AMETEK Land
  Early Detection of Spontaneous Heating and Spontaneous Combustion in Biomass Handling
• Brian Edwards, Director of Engineering, Conversion Technology Inc.
  Conducting a Combustible Dust Hazard Analysis

Among the biggest attributes of biomass derived energy is its ability to scale up or down to match specific project needs. Biomass fuels are used to power the largest power station in Europe while heating single cottages in that same plant’s shadow. This flexibility all hinges on the system design and conversion approaches that have been devised, built and improved project by project. This panel, loaded with specific case studies will illustrate for attendees how each biomass deployment advances the thinking and potential of the world’s most adaptable renewable energy source.

• Joakim Wren, Associate Professor, Management & Engineering, Linkoping University
  Small Scale Co-Generation Based on ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) Systems: A Study of Two Pilot Installations in Swedish Sewage and District Heating Plants
• Tom Brokaw, Engineering Manager, ElectraTherm Inc.
  Biomass Combined Heat & Power for Power and Heat
• Charles Strasburger, Vice President, Magaldi Technologies LLC
  Benefits of Wet-Dry Ash Conversions

The viability of any biogas project hinges on its ability to generate cash flow via a connection to a downstream user. This panel will explore the different approaches developers have taken to achieve this vital project step. Presentations will outline strategies that include simple approaches that site projects next to obvious gas buying entities, to North Carolina’s first-of-its kind biogas interconnection policy that transformed the state’s natural gas grid into a giant biogas on ramp that has positioned it for rapid growth in the swine waste-to-biogas category.

• Joseph Curro, Principle Engineer, CDM Smith
  Combustion Based Alternatives for Low to Medium Flow Biogas Projects
• Ben Cauthen, Bioenergy Project Engineer, Cavanaugh & Associates
  RNG at the State Level: Working toward a More Sustainable Future
• Thomas Dunder, Technical Director, TRC Environmental Corp.
  Ensuring Biogas Marketability: Test Program Design, Implementation, and Reporting

Times have changed from the salad days of the rapid expansion of the first-generation biofuel production infrastructure. The “can’t miss” attitudes and business environment of the early 2000s have been replaced by a more skeptical investment community, unproven production technologies and a less certain policy environment. This discussion will help attendees begin to navigate this new funding environment, illuminating the strategies that can persuade today’s investors and lenders to board the biofuels train once again.

• Mark Riedy, Partner, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
  Creative U.S. and International Debt and Equity Financing Mechanisms for Bioeconomy Projects and Technology Companies
• Todd Taylor, CEO & Attorney, Avisen Legal
  Angels, Venture and Strategics: How to Finance Advanced Biofuels and Biochemicals Now
• Jordan Solomon, President & CEO, Ecostrat
  Applying Risk Ratings to Decrease Capital Cost of Bio-Projects
• Sasisanker Padmanabhan, Associate Principal Technologist, PRAJ Industries Limited
  Valorization of Lignin: Improving the Viability of 2G Ethanol

Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit, Chicken & Pepperjack Biscuit, Egg White & Green Onion Biscuit, Fresh Fruit, Coffee & Hot Tea

After a brief plateau the global demand for wood pellets has returned to a period impressive year over year growth. This panel will offer attendees a data-rich explanation as to where this new demand is coming from, how long it is likely to continue and what it might mean for average pellet prices in the coming years. Presentation time will also be dedicated to the marketplace dynamics and the role biomass traders play in minimizing risk across the supply chain. Finally, attendees will learn how one of the world’s strongest residential pellet markets was established and how its industry advocates have maintained its impressive momentum.

• William Strauss, President, FutureMetrics
  Overview of the Industrial Wood Pellet Markets and Forecasts for the Future
• Christiane Egger, Manager, Cleantech-Cluster Energy
  Dynamising Pellet Heating: The Example of the State of Upper Austria
• Todd Bush, Partner, CM Biomass Partners A/S
  The Role of a Trader

Operators of biomass power, heat and pellet production facilities are well versed in the importance of emissions control. In many instances these operations are constrained not by available feedstock or market opportunities, but instead by the upper limits on their air permit. Finally, the trajectory toward increasingly stringent air quality standards is clear to anyone with their fingers on the pulse of state and federal regulations. This panel will highlight best-in-class emissions control technologies for those biomass professionals charged with staying inside of their allowable stack output.

• Becky Long, Dryer Design Engineer, Thompson Dryers
  Emission Control for Drying Lines: Preventing Thermal Damage and Improving Cyclone Efficiency
• Perry Helmer, Sales Manager Grain Processing, Scheuch North America
  Particulate Emissions Control Technologies for Woody and Non-Woody Biomass and RDF Combustion
• Rodney Pennington, Vice President Key Accounts, Nestec Inc.
  Smart Pellet Plant Air Emission Compliance versus End of Pipe Approach
• Rod Gravley, Technology Director, Tri-Mer Corporation
  Particulate, NOx, CO, Mercury and Acid Gas Control with Catalytic Ceramic Filters

Driven by extreme variability of the waste streams in need of management, biogas technologies and process approaches continue to emerge and evolve. This panel will showcase the innovations that have been driven by the practical realities biogas developers encounter when deploying anaerobic digestion as a treatment approach for food waste, MSW and industrial wastewater streams. The panel boasts solutions rooted in both digester design and operation. Attendees can expect to hear about feedstock collection approaches, pretreatment strategies, high solids anaerobic digestion, fluidized bed digesters and biochar’s utility as an additive.

• Norma McDonald, North American Sales Manager, Organic Waste Systems Inc.
  Revisiting Options: Biogas and Clean Compost from MSW
• Haoqin Zhou, Graduate Student, Iowa State University Bioeconomy Institute
  Biochar as an Effective Additive to Enhance the Anaerobic Digestion of Municipal Sludge: Effects of Feedstock Pretreatment on Biochar Property and Function in Biogas Production
• Manaf H. Farhan, President & CEO, EMG International LLC
  Innovative Digester Technology for High Strength Wastewater Treatment and Biogas Generation

The commercialization of renewable fuel production has been a runaway success story. In the United States alone installed capacity is quickly approaching 20 billion gallons. Still, the vast majority of these gallons are produced from grain inputs. To achieve the visions staked out in the federal policy that gave rise to these first-generation facilities, production approaches that can wring biofuels from new fuel inputs must be perfected. This panel will feature presentations that look at the interplay between feedstock and conversion approach, offering attendees a look at the state of commercialization progress in next generation fuels.

• Jayant Khambekar, Senior Consultant, Jenike & Johanson Inc.
  Importance of Feedstock Preparation in Biofuels Production on Commercial Scale
• Ray Ganga, Senior Staff Engineer, Wellons Power Group
  Start with the Fuel
• Mohammad Abdel-Hamid, Professor, University of Mansoura
  Microalgae as Promising Feedstock of Jet Fuel and Biodiesel: Case Studies
• John Pierce, Partner, Perkins Coie LLP
  Woody Biomass to Hydrocarbons

The excitement surrounding torrefaction hinges on the technology’s ability to produce a fuel product that delivers the environmental benefits of biomass while delivering the operational performance of its fossil-based equivalents. This panel offers attendees presentations on both the technological developments in the production of torrefied fuel products as well the feasibility of their more widespread use. Finally, the technology’s ability to utilize a variety of inbound feedstocks will be discussed.

• Jagannadh Satyavolu, Theme Leader - Biomass Conversion and Biofuels, Conn Center, University of Louisville
  Hydrolyzed Bagasse as a Low Cost Binder to Produce High Quality Torrefied Bagasse Briquettes
• Wilson Lam, Principal Consultant, LAMPS Consulting Inc.
  Process Design Analysis of Biocoal Production via Wet Torrefaction
• Becky Long, Dryer Design Engineer, Thompson Dryers
  Large-scale, Economic Production of Torrefied Biomass
• Ezra Bar-Ziv, Founder, Treamin Energy Ltd.
  Torrefaction of Low Quality, Non-Recyclable, Biomass and Plastic Waste Blends

The success of any biomass-to-energy operation depends on the efficient and uninterrupted delivery of on-spec feedstock. Poorly designed and/or managed supply chains spell certain doom for biomass installations of any size. Panelists will use case studies to highlight both supply chain successes as well as failures, and attendees can expect the discussion to address pre-construction planning, capital equipment decisions, the importance of early fuel specification thinking, and how supply chain design underpins final delivered feedstock pricing.

• Magnus Rundqwist, Manager, Global Bulk Sales, BRUKS SIWERTELL
  Biomass Transformation: What Equipment does it Really Take to Move Biomass from U.S. Forests to a Power Plant in the UK?
• Richard Schroeder, President, BioResource Management Inc.
  Meeting the Needs of Supplying a 100MW Biomass Plant
• Pat Liew, Business Development Manager, Ecostrat Inc.
  How to Avoid Supply Chain Mistakes for Biomass Heating

While biogas devotees laud anaerobic digestion for its ability to be deployed as a management option for so many challenging waste streams, the investment community continues to show some reticence when approached for financing. This panel will simultaneously help attendees understand which risk factors are the biggest contributors to this reluctance while offering practical advice on managing these common objections. Finally, presenters will help attendees learn how to identify those projects with workable fundamentals as well as those that simply need to be abandoned.

• Max Vernier, Business Unit Leader – Bioenergy Lending, Live Oak Bank
  Banking 101: How to Leverage a Biogas Project
• David Gardels, Partner, Husch Blackwell LLP
  Biogas 101 - What Every Generator of Organic Waste Needs to Know: "Green Attributes" Can Make Biogas Economical for You!
• Brad Pleima, Senior Engineer, EcoEngineers
  Overcoming the Top 5 Hurdles to a Renewable Natural Gas Project

Municipal solid waste streams continue to generate robust enthusiasm from biofuel technology developers and researchers. A feedstock that generates revenue merely by virtue of accepting it at the plant gate alone is enough to propel continued interest. Still the feedstock is anything but homogenous and its characteristics continue to vex those anxious to commercialize conversion approaches for it. This panel will provide attendees with an update on the efforts to once and for all bring common and abundant waste streams into the biofuels portfolio.

• Roland Verhe, Professor, Ghent University
  Circular Economy: Increasing the Value of Selected Municipal and Industrial Waste Streams into Biofuels and Biocoal
• Brian Cody, Vice President, Business Development, Velocys
  Opportunities for Waste Biomass in Renewable Fuel Markets
• Brad Damstedt, Development Professional, Praxair
  Hot Oxygen Enhanced Syngas Reforming
• David Dayton, Senior Fellow, Chemistry/Biofuels Director, RTI International
  Advanced Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass to Biofuels and Bio-Products

Driving moisture out of inbound feedstock streams is a major expense for biomass fuel manufacturers. In some instances, inbound materials with 50% moisture are not uncommon. This panel features presenters that will assert that an entirely different approach is what is required. Presentations will look not only at combustion systems that can tolerate feedstocks with high moisture contents as well as production approaches that reduce or altogether eliminate the need for expensive dryer time.

• Jaya Shankar Tumuluru, Research Scientist, Idaho National Laboratory
  High Moisture Pelleting Studies on Pine and Switchgrass Blend in a Pilot Scale Ring Die Pellet Mill
• Melissa Patton, Executive Director, Carolina Land and Lakes RC&D
  Pellets for Poultry

On one hand, Alaska’s unique challenges and resources present a perfect opportunity for biomass heating systems to flourish. Its vastness paired with its proliferation of remote villages drive up the cost of competing fuels, and biomass systems offer clear economic advantages. On the other hand, those same unique attributes create their own challenges for owners of these systems in fuel sourcing, feedstock preparation and system operation. This panel is loaded with case studies that will highlight for attendees how and why biomass continues to gain traction in the Land of the Midnight Sun.

• Devany Plentovich, Program Manager – Biomass & CHP, Alaska Energy Authority
  It Takes a Village: Rural Small-Scale Heating Systems
• Karen Petersen, Biomass Coordinator, Southeast Conference
  From Biomass to Lettuce: The Story of Two Alaskan Schools
• Tim Kalke, General Manager, Sustainable Energy for Galena, Alaska
  Sustainable Biomass Heating in Galena, Alaska
• David Nicholls, Forest Products Technologist, USDA Forest Service
  Economic Modeling of Wood and Coal for Grate-Fired Systems in Arctic Conditions under Varying Fuel Costs

The road to a financed, built and operational digester is littered with promising projects that failed to address a small handful of important details that ultimately grew into project killers. Presentations in this panel will bring common obstructions into sharp focus offering attendees a way forward to confront the permitting, biogas testing and patent hurdles that too often delay or altogether end otherwise fungible projects. The presentations in this panel promise a practical “lessons learned” opportunity for attendees involved in active biogas project development.

• Katrina Bagwell, Associate, Environmental Planning Specialists Inc.
  Creating a Streamlined Air Permitting Process: From Siting to Operation
• Peter Jackman, Director, Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox PLLC
  Lessons from IPRs Involving Biomass-Related Patents
• Carrie Hartford, Senior Project Engineer, Jenike & Johanson Inc.
  Scale-Up Challenges with Biomass

First generation ethanol production had the benefit of leveraging a known production process to convert simple starches into saleable alcohol. Next generation production will require innovation to unlock and ultimately convert the cellulose and lignocellulose tightly bound up in targeted feedstocks. This panel will feature the incredible advancements that have already been made in pretreatment approaches aimed at accomplishing just that. Attendees can expect information on physical, chemical and thermal strategies and where and when each approach holds the greatest promise.

• Peter Flippo, Business Development Director, Bioprocess Pilot Facility
  Valorisation of Lignocellulosic Biomass at Pilot Scale: Design Considerations vs. Operational Challenges
• Taylor Sulmonetti, Associate, Exponent Inc.
  Chemical Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass: Breaking Down the Challenges at the Industrial Scale
• Ed De Jong, VP of Development, Avantium Technologies
  Dawn Technology™: Superior Lignocellulosic Fractionation Technology for Chemicals, Fuels and Energy Applications
• Raghu Nandan Gurram, Senior R&D Scientist, Attis Innovations
  Organosolv Fractionation for Enhanced Biorefinery through Complete Valorization of Lignocellulosic Feedstock

Assorted Novelty Ice Cream Bars, Coffee & Hot Tea, Soda

While biomass fuels continue to gain traction in heat and power markets across the world, the list of common feedstocks utilized remains relatively short. If biomass fuels are ever going to be the kind of disruptive technology the industry believes it can be, it will have to break out of the wood and wood waste box where it currently finds itself. This panel will feature presentations on bridge species like Eucalyptus and palm oil cake that offer a leap-frog journey to new feedstock paradigms as well as presentations that ask whether it might be time to consider the inclusion of plastic waste in industrial pellet production.

• Jeff Wright, CEO, Durania LLC
  Eucalyptus Bio-energy Plantations: Importance of Harvest Planning
• Stas Zinchik, Ph.D. Candidate Michigan Tech & Mechanical Engineer, Treamin Energy Ltd.
  Plastic Waste as Enabler for Pellets Production
• Kimberly Samaha, CEO, Born Global Foundation
  Process Innovation: Turning Aging Biomass Power Plants into Bio-Hub Ecosystems
• Bill McDonald, VP Research, Anellotech
  MinFree™ - A Biomass Pre-Treatment Process Enabling Mineral-Reduced Feedstocks for Both Pellet Producers and Biomass Conversion

The proliferation of new industrial wood pellet production across the American southeast in the last decade triggered a passionate and robust debate about what it might mean for forest inventories in the region. As the use of industrial wood pellets to achieve environmental objectives spread throughout the world, so too did the concern and the debate. While the majority of those concerns have been debunked, the criticisms led the industry to sharpen its thinking and tighten up the research around resource impact. This panel will offer attendees a look at the most recent research that informs this ongoing debate.

• Michelle Halsted, Graduate Research Assistant, Oak Ridge National Lab, University of Tennessee
  Sustaining Bioenergy: Incentives to Ensure Woody Biomass Reforestation
• Marcus Taylor, Research Forester, USDA Forest Service
  Effects of Increasing Biomass Power on Forest Resources in the Southeast
• Valentino Tiangco, Biomass Program Manager, Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)
  Strategic Value of Biomass in SMUD Region