SAF: We Should, We Could, and We’ll Need the Wood: the Alder Fuels, Enviva Partnership Story

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) We’ll keep warning the industries of the bioeconomy until we get the message through so clearly that no one is left in any doubt: The grand journey, the quest for sustainable fuels, chemicals and materials, will utterly fail if the industry does not work harder to address its Achilles Heel, which is biomass itself.

Not the quality of it, or even the quantity of it, but the quantity at price that is affordable and scales to a level where the bioeconomy is seen as a vital partner in decarbonization rather than a niche player.

The bioeconomy is getting sidelined and not because of technology but because of apprehension by leaders when they compare the magnitude of industrial transformation needed to reach climate goals, and the valuable biomass that can be scourvfaed without uncorking a price war between those who have always been using it, and those who need it now.

Many organizations get it, and are working the problem hard. Not enough of them,. And they are not given the all-out support they should be.

One company worth highlighting, and I mean let’s shine the kleig lights on this one are the technology pioneers at Alder Fuels. Yes, like many others, they are going after SAF and renewable diesel at scale. But they see the problem and are doing something about it — namely, laboring to unlock the value of wood residues and untapped sustainable woodstocks as a platform for SAF.

(I)nstead, they convert the VFA’s directly to a liquid fuel usable as SAF. Brilliant stuff.

Enviva and Alder signed a contract for the long-term, large-scale supply of woody biomass from Enviva, which sources low-value fiber, such as forest byproducts like tree tops, limbs, and commercial thinnings. The agreement would make Enviva an exclusive supplier of up to 750,000 metric tons per year of sustainably sourced woody biomass to Alder’s first Alder Greencrude production facility, soon to be under construction in the southeastern United States. The supply is expected to commence in 2024.

Sustainable? It’s Triple-Checked

All woody biomass feedstock supplied by Enviva to Alder Fuels will continue to adhere to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard, the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive’s requirements, as well as Enviva’s industry-leading Responsible Sourcing Policy. In addition, Enviva and Alder Fuels have committed to collaborating to gain sustainability certification under the internationally renowned Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials standard. These guidelines and conditions are further supported by Enviva’s industry-leading Track & Trace® program that provides detailed, verifiable, and independently audited data about the sustainability of Enviva’s sourcing activities and the journey its feedstocks take from the forest tract to the production plant to customers around the globe. READ MORE

Excerpt from Biomass Magazine/Enviva: Enviva, the world’s leading producer of sustainably sourced woody biomass, and GreenTrees, the market leader in reforestation and carbon removal in the U.S., on Dec. 1 announced a nine-year partnership agreement that will contribute towards Enviva’s net-zero goals for its Scope 1 carbon footprint, equating to approximately 10,000 metric tons of carbon removal credits annually, or 90,000 metric tons throughout the duration of the contract.

“We are excited to partner with GreenTrees to help minimize our net carbon emissions and implement local solutions to meet net-zero goals,” said Thomas Meth, president and CEO of Enviva. “As part of the forest products industry, it is important that we utilize a forest-based offset. While Enviva’s long-term focus is to reduce our Scope 1 emissions through energy-efficient projects and substitution of fossil fuels, this partnership will help reduce our net emissions in the short term and positively impact the health of the forests in Enviva’s operating footprint.”

The GreenTrees afforestation project with Enviva will take place in the rural U.S. Southeast, on land formerly used for agriculture but has been deemed no longer suitable for farming and crop growth due to soil erosion and water damage. The afforestation of this land will not compete with lands used for agricultural and food sources, but will revitalize the land and serve as permanent carbon removal. This partnership will also provide a new source of income for rural landowners in the GreenTrees program who are no longer able to use the land for agriculture.

“It’s an honor to partner with Enviva and work alongside a company on their path to net zero,” said Chandler Van Voorhis, co-founder and managing partner of GreenTrees. “We are equally thrilled that in addition to the environmental impact of reducing carbon emissions and restoring previously overworked land to its natural beauty, the landowners GreenTrees partners with will now have another sustainable source of income for their property.”

The path to achieving a net-zero future requires many tools, including third-party verified investments in reforestation and land equity. This partnership contributes to Enviva's net-zero greenhouse gas emissions commitment and represents an approximately 14 percent reduction of Enviva's 2021 Scope 1 footprint. Likewise, GreenTrees’ nature-based carbon removal credits align well with Enviva’s strict sustainability standards. Enviva is focused on high-quality carbon credit projects that promote afforestation and reforestation in the company’s region of operations, as well as projects that remove carbon from the atmosphere and enhance local carbon stocks.

All carbon credits in GreenTrees’ projects undergo a rigorous verification process by the American Carbon Registry. GreenTrees’ verified carbon credits are widely accepted today by major environmental markets, and Fortune 500 companies trust them to meet sustainability goals and mitigate climate change. In winter 2022/2023, GreenTrees’ credits will be the first reforestation credits to be auctioned by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). READ MORE