Strategic Biofuels gets permit for Columbia plant

Louisiana Green Fuels (LGF) project got a boost recently as its parent company, Strategic Biofuels, received an industry-first air permit to continue the biofuel plant in Columbia, the company announced recently.

The permit issued by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) was approved because the state agency "determined that the project, located in Caldwell Parish Louisiana, will not have an adverse impact on local air resources," according to a company press release, which signaled "another milestone to advance the world's lowest carbon footprint liquid fuel plant."

The facility will be classified as a "synthetic minor" and will be regulated by state and federal agencies, including the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

“Securing the Air Permit for the integrated facility is a significant development for our project,” said Paul Oesterreich, Senior Vice President of Project Development, Strategic Biofuels. “The permit application for our facility is the first of its kind in Louisiana to be reviewed by the DEQ. We greatly appreciate the design innovation brought by Hatch to drive down the emissions from the integrated facility and the diligence from Eagle Environmental Services our environmental consultant, in shepherding the application through the regulatory review process.”

"The LGF project integrates three key elements that through key engineering innovation, led by Hatch, has the ability to reduce the total emissions by 70 percent below the allowable limit if each of the facilities were operated independently," the company said in the press release. "The three project components include a biorefinery converting forestry waste to renewable fuel; biomass-fired “green energy” power plant for the entire facility; and carbon sequestration complex to permanently store the carbon dioxide captured from both.

"Securing the Air Permit builds on the significant recent advancement of the LGF project’s US EPA Class VI well permit application, which the EPA has deemed as “administratively complete” and includes the extensive data collected from the LGF Class V Stratigraphic Test Well, the thorough subsurface mapping of the region, and state-of-the-art reservoir, geo-mechanical, and plume expansion modeling. This is further enhanced by Strategic Biofuels announcement that it has entered into an agreement with SLB, a global technology company, to provide carbon sequestration services for LGF."

About Strategic Biofuels

Strategic Biofuels LLC is a team of highly experienced energy, petrochemical and renewable fuels technology experts focused on developing a series of deeply negative carbon footprint plants in northern Louisiana that convert waste materials from managed and sustainable forests into renewable diesel fuel and renewable naphtha. The fuel qualifies for substantial Carbon Credits under the Federal Renewable Fuel Standard Program and under the California Low Carbon Fuels Standard. For more information, visit www.strategicbiofuels.com.

About Louisiana Green Fuels

Louisiana Green Fuels is the first biomass waste-to-fuels project by Strategic Biofuels LLC in northern Louisiana at the Port of Columbia in Caldwell Parish. The biofuel refinery and adjacent power plant and their accompanying Class VI Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Wells will be the first renewable diesel project in the world to achieve “deeply negative” carbon emissions.

About Hatch

Hatch is a global engineering, project management, and professional services firm. Whatever our clients envision, our professionals can design and build. With over six decades of business and technical experience in the energy, infrastructure, and mining sectors, we know your business and understand that your challenges are changing rapidly. We respond quickly with solutions that are smarter, more efficient and innovative. We rely upon our 10,000 staff with experience in over 150 countries to challenge the status quo and create positive change for our clients, our employees, and the communities we serve. Find out more on www.hatch.com.

About Eagle Environmental Services

Eagle Environmental Services, Inc. is a full service provider of comprehensive environmental consultancy to clients in the industrial and government sectors in the Gulf Coast region. Since being founded in 1998, we have focused on our core business principle that service to and the satisfaction of our clients are our absolute top priority. For more information, visit www.eaglered.com.