Biofuels Plant Gets Key Approval for Carbon Burial Well

March 06, 2026

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by Alton Wallace (The Center Square/New Orleans City Business) KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Strategic Biofuels received a draft Class VI well permit for carbon storage tied to its Louisiana Green Fuels project.
The wood-fired biofuels plant in Caldwell Parish would capture and store carbon about a mile underground.
The facility plans to convert 1.3 million tons of forestry waste annually into synthetic fuels.
The project could create 76 direct jobs, 412 indirect jobs and about 450 construction jobs, with operations expected by 2028.

A draft permit approved for a Class VI well puts a company in northeast Louisiana a step away from the final approval required to build a wood-fired biofuels fuels energy plant and store the carbon produced about a mile underground at a 327-acre site in Caldwell Parish.

The draft permit, approved by the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy, is the third of its kind issued by state regulators but the first issued to a project with multiple wells as part of its long-term plan, according to a statement by Strategic Biofuels, the company developing the Louisiana Green Fuels project. The project is planned for a site at the Port of Columbia on the west bank of the Ouachita River in northeast Louisiana.

The approval of the draft permit comes four months after Gov. Jeff Landry declared a moratorium on new applications for Class VI wells. State regulators have given final approval to only one project, Hackberry Carbon Sequestration in Cameron Parish, while three draft permits have been issued.

Class VI wells are specifically designed to store carbon below thick layers of impermeable shale and clay, according to the engineers and geologists that design the projects.

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The company’s 327-acre site has access to approximately 8,000 acres of deep underground “pore space” for permanent carbon storage. The facility will convert approximately 1.3 million tons of forestry waste per year into high-purity synthetic fuels for use in the aviation and trucking industries.

In using forestry waste sourced in the area to produce fuel and generate power, the plant would provide a new market for north Louisiana loggers, who have struggled following the closure of paper mills in recent years.

In April 2025, the International Paper Company ceased operations at the Campti/Red River Mill in Natchitoches Parish, which had purchased roughly 1.6 million tons of pulpwood annually before its closure.

After the minimum 30-day period for written public comments and a community meeting in Caldwell Parish scheduled by the Department of Conservation and Energy for April 9, Strategic Biofuels said it anticipates receiving the final permit to begin construction within approximately 90 days.

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The project’s developers expect Louisiana Green Fuels will generate over 1 million high-quality, durable Carbon Dioxide Removal credits each year. READ MORE

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Strategic Biofuels Secures Draft Class VI Well Permit to Construct from Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy (Strategic Biofuels/Business Wire)
Strategic Biofuels CCS Project Receives Draft Class VI Well Permit (Carbon Herald; includes VIDEO)

Excerpt from Carbon Herald: Through a partnership with Carbon Direct, the credits will be made available to corporate and institutional buyers seeking verified carbon removal solutions.

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Engineering work for the project is being supported by SLB on the CO2 sequestration system and Kiewit Engineering Group on the power and carbon capture facilities as the development advances toward construction. READ MORE

Excerpt from Strategic Biofuels/Business Wire: Milestone advances Phase I of Louisiana Green Fuels Project—24/7 renewable carbon neutral electric power plus carbon capture and sequestration

Strategic Biofuels, a leader in renewable energy development, announced today (March 4, 2026)epa it has received a draft Class VI Well Permit from the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy (C&E)—only the third such draft permit issued in Louisiana and the first to be issued to a project that includes multiple wells. This is a major milestone for the company’s Louisiana Green Fuels (LGF) project in northeast Louisiana and specifically its carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) component. The project comprises a 100 MW wood-fired power plant designed to deliver carbon-neutral electricity to the grid while capturing and permanently sequestering the CO2 in the company’s sequestration complex, all in Caldwell Parish.

A First-of-Its-Kind Power Plant Producing Carbon Neutral Energy and Premium Carbon Credits

“This milestone reflects the unwavering focus of our team on delivering a project that merges proven technology, ideal geology, and deep community partnership to produce clean energy at scale while also bringing great economic impact to Caldwell Parish,” said Dr. Paul Schubert, Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Biofuels. “The journey to secure this permit began five years ago. We partnered with Geostock Sandia to plan the drilling, data collection and analysis for our Class V sequestration test well, and since have worked together in filing the permit application initially with the US EPA and then refiling with the State of Louisiana to the state’s even stricter requirements for Class VI permits.

Schubert continued, “We are not just reducing emissions; we are actually removing them permanently and doing it all while bringing a first-of-its-kind critical resource to Louisiana—always-available 24/7 renewable electric power. Our project is unique because the three essential elements of the project—power production, carbon capture, and carbon storage—all happen within the parish. This is important because there are no long-distance CO2 pipelines, ensuring that the high-paying jobs and increased tax revenues made possible by CCS accrue to the local community.”

Phase I of the LGF project will establish a 100 MW wood-fired power plant with dedicated CCS at the Port of Columbia in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana. Fueled by 1.3 million tons per year of abundant sustainably sourced forestry feedstock, the facility will generate a net 75 MW of dispatchable, carbon-neutral electricity for export to the Louisiana grid, with the balance powering the carbon capture and sequestration operations. This new demand for forestry feedstocks will be a lifeline to the struggling logging industry in northern Louisiana, which continues to be hard hit by the shutdown of regional pulp and paper mills. Phase II of the project on the same site is a planned biorefinery to produce biofuels.

Once the plant is operational, over one million tons of carbon dioxide will be captured each year from the power-generating process and permanently stored in the project’s dedicated geologic reservoir located approximately one mile directly beneath the site. With this Class VI Permit and its three injection wells the reservoir will have more than three times the CO2 sequestration capacity needed for Phase I, thus providing ample room for subsequent project expansion.

In addition to delivering clean energy, each year LGF will generate over one million high-quality, durable Carbon Dioxide Removal credits (CDRs). Through a strategic collaboration with Carbon Direct, the global leader in science-based carbon management, these credits will be made available to Carbon Direct’s clients, including global financial institutions, international businesses, governments, foundations, and academic institutions. Credits available through Carbon Direct must meet its rigorous Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal, a key standard in determining best-in-class projects.

Final Permit Timeline and Path to Construction

After the minimum 30-day period for written public comment and a public hearing by C&E scheduled for April 9, the company anticipates receiving the final Permit to Construct within approximately 90 days. LGF has completed the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for the sequestration complex with oilfield service leader SLB and will coordinate its construction and startup to coincide with the commencement of power plant operations.

Pre-Front-End Engineering and Design (Pre-FEED) services for the power and carbon capture facilities are being provided by Kiewit Engineering Group Inc., a subsidiary of Kiewit Corporation with extensive experience supporting power generation and carbon capture projects. The Pre-FEED scope will help advance project definition, technical evaluation and execution planning as the project moves toward future development phases.

In 2023, LGF secured from the state a synthetic minor Air Permit for plant operations and successfully completed all environmental, cultural, and environmental justice reviews, confirming no adverse impact on disadvantaged communities.

“With this milestone, the path to the start of construction is coming into clear view, an exciting moment that reflects the incredible support we’ve received from state leaders, industry partners, and especially Caldwell Parish local government and community leaders,” added Bob Meredith, Chief Operating Officer of Strategic Biofuels. “That support has been overwhelmingly positive, driven by the impact this project will have on our parish with approximately 75 full-time and over 300 indirect jobs, and the opportunity to enormously increase local tax revenues. Louisiana Green Fuels is more than a clean energy project; it’s a catalyst for lasting economic and environmental transformation.”

To learn more about the Louisiana Green Fuels project, visit www.strategicbiofuels.com.

About Strategic Biofuels

Strategic Biofuels is a project development company advancing renewable energy solutions. The company’s flagship project, LGF, in northeast Louisiana will be delivered in phases, beginning with a 100MW clean energy power plant featuring on-site carbon capture and sequestration. Learn more about Strategic Biofuels and the LGF project here: www.strategicbiofuels.com READ MORE