The 2024 BDC Fall Forum was held in downtown Charleston, South Carolina and focused on biorenewable commercialization in the industry.  BDC works to connect emerging technologies with industry partners to accelerate deployment and optimize value.  The Forum focused on strategic partnerships and adding value to Industry through sustainability and unique opportunities in the biorefinery space including lignin, crude tall oil (CTO), and specialty chemicals.  The event also highlighted significant updates on commercial deployment of renewable processes and a panel on agricultural innovations. 

 

The conference kicked off with opening remarks from Mark Daniel, Vice President SBS Mills, Graphic Packaging International.  Mr. Daniel presented GPI’s blueprint to achieve sustainability though energy efficiency, replacing petroleum products with bioproducts, and key strategic partnerships.  Mr. Daniel described the success factors for achieving innovation and sustainability including the strong global forces are driving changes in the packaging industry.  He stressed how more goods need to be packed and shipped to address the needs of a growing urban population, while at the same time packaging needs to transform to reduce carbon emissions and minimize waste.  He said that consumers are also demanding that products — and the packaging that protects them — are safe and free of chemicals that may cause harm to people and the planet.  GPI presentation described how the company is stepping up to these challenges by delivering an innovative product portfolio that starts with renewable and recycled fiber raw materials and embraces product recyclability after use.  Ninety-five percent of GPI's paperboard products are recyclable, and for those that aren’t widely accepted for recycling at this time, GPI partners with its value chain to develop solutions to increase acceptance so they can recover those valuable fibers to make new products.

 

The program featured the commercial status of new processes where several plants have been commissioned.  The first presentation was by Via Separations, who have commissioned their first commercial project at International Paper’s Grand Prairie mill to relieve a bottleneck and reduce energy usage by concentrating weak black liquor using membrane filtration.  In a presentation by Dr. Shreya Dave, CEO, Via Separations and Mr. Thomas J Macher, General Manager, Adjacent Markets, Global Cellulose Fibers, International Paper, the two discussed public-private partnerships and how they were crucial for the success in the Via Separations commercial project in Grande Prairie, AB, Canada.

 

In another presentation, Robert Downie, Technology Commercialization and Deployment Specialist, Licella, discussed the first commercial patented HTR™ Hydrothermal Liquefaction plant startup in Europe and North America.  Mr. Downie discussed the road to deployment culminating in the successful commercial projects that have started up this year in Europe and North America. The projects include the conversion of plastics (MURA, Armstrong Energy) and Wood (Arbios, CanFor) to biocrude oil and to higher value products. Licella’s efforts align with the broader global push towards more sustainable waste management solutions and the drive to minimize environmental impact while creating value from waste materials making the company an extraordinary success story by recycling the waste streams to useful products.  After the presentation, Licella was awarded with the BDC 2024 Innovation Award for their culture of innovation, which has led to the global commercialization of Licella’s patented Cat-HTR™ platform, the world's most advanced hydrothermal liquefaction technology, for the production of high value and low carbon fuels from wood and agricultural wastes, making them a global leader in the next generation of advanced biofuels, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).  Concurrently, BDC also awarded Canfor with BDC’s Industrial Partnership Award for the development of a commercial-scale biomass to biofuel plant under Arbios Biotech, the joint venture with Licella, which is an excellent example of an industrial partnership to help commercialize emerging technologies. 

 

The next presentation was by the Ensyn and Castlerock Joint Venture commercial project in Maine.  Presenting the project was John Murphy, Executive Director, Biofuels, CastleRock Green Energy.  Earlier this year, Ensyn announced an investment of $9 million into Castlerock Biofuels LLC, a joint venture company led by Ensyn Corporation and Castlerock Green Energy LLC. The investment was made by Nexus Development Capital LLC, a leading investment firm specializing in catalytic capital for teams deploying low-carbon infrastructure. This investment marks a substantial step forward in the development of renewable fuel production facilities in the United States. Mr. Murphy will describe the Maine project and this substantial investment in the State.

 

David Winsness, President, Comstock Fuels presented on wood fractionation and conversion for the production of value products in a cost competitive way to petroleum using cellulose and lignin.  Wood fractionation and conversion are key to utilizing wood resources more effectively and developing sustainable materials and energy solutions. Mr. Winsness discussed making decarbonization of fuels by breaking through the technical challenges of converting woody biomass, through unlocking the value of millions of tonnes of unused and underused waste wood, Kraft lignin, and new, sustainably grown lignocellulosic fuel crops.

 

The Forum split the remaining presentations into 4 panels.  The first panel of presenters focused on sustainability, which is all about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs through minimizing the impact on the natural environment.  It includes practices like reducing waste, conserving energy and water, protecting ecosystems, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  Dr. Elina Lohiniva, Andritz, described their projects that will improve sustainability in the pulp and paper industry and Dr. Fred Rumpf from the Cabot Corporation discussed sustainability strategies in an industry where reducing greenhouse gas emissions is particularly challenging and difficult to mitigate without major shifts in technology. These shifts require innovation and significant investment for Cabot's specialty chemicals business.

 

In the next panel 2, presenters discussed lignin markets and outlook, lignin recovery technology improvements and strategic opportunities, and lignin recovery technologies for the production of specialty products.  The lignin discussion focused on the current market dynamics with an analysis on the present state of the lignin markets, including supply and demand, key players, and pricing trends.  Panelists from Koble Sustain and Valmet discussed factors influencing these markets, such as regulatory changes, technological advancements, and shifts in consumer preferences and the future outlook to predict future trends based on current data and emerging innovations as well as how sustainability initiatives and the shift towards bio-based materials might impact these markets. Metgen finished the panel in a discussion of their technological innovations tailored for producing specialty products, focusing on efficiency, scalability, and product quality.

 

In panel 3, presenters from Vistaurum Corporation, Forest Chemical Recovery Consulting, and Head Engineering discussed pine chemicals recovery and global value.  This panel discussed the pine chemicals industry, the markets, outlooks, and improvement opportunities for Soap and crude tall oil (CTO) recovery.  The pine chemicals industry involves the production of chemicals derived from pine trees. These chemicals are used in a variety of applications, including adhesives, paints, coatings, detergents, and more.  The industry is significant due to its contribution to both traditional and emerging markets, leveraging renewable resources in an era of increasing focus on sustainability and eco-friendly products.

 

The final panel 4 centered on agricultural innovation progress.  In this panel, Dr. Kelly Tiller, Founder of Genera Energy discussed the expansion of the company’s production footprint across the U.S. to address the growing demand for domestically sourced sustainable packaging.  By partnering with American farmers to supply purpose-grown agricultural fibers, Genera created economic opportunities for rural communities from conservation use of land while providing an environmentally superior, biodegradable, and compostable solution to the growing global plastic pollution problem.  Genera is poised to capitalize on explosive growth in the sustainable packaging market, benefiting from structural tailwinds, including onshoring of supply chains, and companies and consumers seeking sustainable alternatives to plastics.  With their expansion, Genera also wants to develop and deploy innovative technologies to produce higher value-added products from their lignin and sugars making them more competitive, profitable, and sustainable.  Raizen closed the panel will a discussion on their innovative process for the conversion of sugar cane bagasse to ethanol. Raizen is the third largest Brazilian energy company by revenue and the fifth largest in Brazil.  The company is a joint-venture formed in 2010 from the merger of the assets of sugar, fuel and ethanol derived from Cosan and Royal Dutch Shell in Brazil.

 

The evening concluded with an after-dinner presentation by Suzano, who presented their success in a discussion on their sustainability plans as wells as their global expansion and investments. As the largest pulp manufacturer in the world, Suzano continues to impress with the announcement of their successful operational startup of its new mill, the largest single pulp production line in the world, in Ribas do Rio Pardo, Mato Grosso do Sul state. This marks the completion of one of Brazil’s largest ever private investment projects.