Thursday, September 11, 2025 – 1:15 to 2:45 PM EST
| Wildfires continue to escalate in scale and severity, driven in part by the buildup of forest biomass with limited pathways for removal or reuse. Forest thinning efforts are producing massive volumes of low-value material, but without viable markets, this critical work stalls and wildfire risk grows. This webinar is the second in our series with Arizona State University, exploring solutions to the catastrophic wildfire crisis. |
| It focuses on technologies, like biochar, renewable natural gas, and e-methanol, that are ready for commercial application but need infrastructure, investment, and policy support to scale. Watch the 90-second explainer video on ASU’s Biomass to X initiative to see how these solutions could reshape wildfire mitigation and rural economies. https://vimeo.com/1089171228 (A link to the first webinar recording, Building a Wildfire-Resilient Future is included later in the email.) Panelists will explore what it takes to scale up biomass processing technologies, including the infrastructure, investment, and operational capacity needed to move them into full commercial deployment. Meet the Panel Dr. Lynn Wendt is a distinguished scientist at Idaho National Laboratory, where she directs the Biomass Feedstock National User Facility and serves as Laboratory Relationship Manager to DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office.  An expert in biomass preprocessing, storage systems, and feedstock variability, Lynn will discuss how innovations like densification and material separation can make biomass “investment-grade” and reduce costs for multiple end uses. Dr. Thomas Foust directs the Catalytic Carbon Transformation and Scale-up Center at NREL, advancing technologies that convert biomass and waste carbon into fuels and products. His team focuses on scaling innovations from pilot plants to commercial facilities, reducing risk and improving economic viability. Tom will highlight how catalytic pathways and digital twins reduce scale-up risk, making biomass conversion technologies more predictable and investable. Dr. Martin Atkins is CEO of Green Lizard Technologies, with decades of experience in bringing biomass and renewable chemical technologies from lab to commercial application. He previously served as Chief Technology Officer for BP China and has led major projects on advanced fuels and chemical conversion across Europe and Asia. Martin will share lessons from commercialization in the field—what’s worked, what hasn’t—and how to structure projects that achieve real revenue. Dr. Lalitha Krishnamoorthy leads AI and Digital Transformation at Stantec, where she develops strategies to integrate responsible AI across global operations. Drawing on leadership roles at IBM and as Co-Founder of Open Teams Global, she brings deep expertise in applying AI to complex systems.  In this webinar, Lalitha will highlight how digital tools—from feedstock forecasting and transport optimization to market intelligence and wildfire prediction—can build the investor confidence needed to scale biomass utilization. Dr. Jeffrey Jacobs is the retired Vice President and President of Chevron Technology Ventures and currently serves as the Chairman of the BioEnergy Technical Review Panel at the U.S. Department of Energy’s NREL. Jeffrey brings decades of experience in integrating advanced biofuel technologies—including forest-based biomass systems—into commercial energy infrastructure and will set the context by framing the wildfire crisis, the scale of the economic risk, and the market-policy mismatch that needs to be solved. This session drills down on the technologies and tools that can finally make them work at scale—turning wildfire fuel into investable products and sparing taxpayers the cost of inaction. Watch the 90-second explainer video on LightWorks at ASU’s Biomass to X initiative to see how these solutions could reshape wildfire mitigation and rural economies. |
Posted in Policy and Equity, Resources Management
