Strategic Biofuels Secures Pivotal Class VI Permit, Advancing Louisiana’s Next Major Clean Energy Project

(Strategic Biofuels/Business Wire) Permit advances first-of-its-kind project for 24/7 carbon-negative renewable power and permanent carbon storage -- Strategic Biofuels, a leading developer of carbon-negative electric power, has received its final Class VI Sequestration Well Permit from the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy, marking a major milestone, significantly advancing the company’s Louisiana Green Fuels (LGF) project in Caldwell Parish.

The permit is the first issued in Louisiana for a carbon sequestration project that includes multiple injection wells. It provides sufficient permanent storage capacity for the CO₂ associated with up to 600 MW of carbon-negative electric power generation.

“This is a defining moment for Strategic Biofuels and for carbon capture and sequestration in Louisiana,” said Dr. Paul Schubert, Strategic Biofuels’ Chief Operating Officer. “The issuance of this permit demonstrates that projects combining the right geology, proven technology, strong local support, and a clear economic purpose to meet real market demand can successfully advance. We believe Louisiana Green Fuels can serve as a replicable model for responsible carbon capture projects across the country.”

The LGF project is designed to combine electric power generation from sustainable forestry feedstocks with carbon capture and permanent geological sequestration. The result is dispatchable, 24/7 carbon-negative renewable energy for the industrial power grid.

When paired with natural gas generation, the project’s carbon-negative baseload power can enable up to 2.4 GW of net carbon-neutral electricity, helping industrial customers and grid operators to meet decarbonization commitments, while maintaining access to reliable, always-available power.

The project uses proven biomass-to-power technology, including reliable steam turbines and offers a significant speed-to-power advantage at a time when natural gas turbines face long lead times and rapidly rising costs. In addition, unlike intermittent solar and wind resources, renewable biomass power is available around the clock, providing dispatchable clean energy.

The LGF project is also uniquely located directly above the sequestration reservoir, eliminating the need for long-distance, large-diameter CO₂ pipelines. As a result, jobs, tax benefits and other economic impacts remain within the Caldwell Parish community.

That local integration has helped drive strong community support. At the state’s official public hearing for the permit, 21 of the 24 individuals and groups who spoke voiced support for the project, while only three spoke in opposition. The LGF project also received three unanimous resolutions of support from the Caldwell Parish government.

Louisiana State Representative Neil Riser, who has supported the project since its earliest stages, said the permit marks an important win for Caldwell Parish and for Louisiana’s leadership in energy innovation.

“Strategic Biofuels has worked long and hard to reach this point, and I am proud to see Caldwell Parish at the center of a project with the potential to create jobs, strengthen our tax base and position Louisiana as a national leader in responsible carbon management,” said Rep. Riser. “This project represents exactly the kind of economic development rural Louisiana needs — investment, innovation and long-term opportunity for our people.”

In its order approving the permit, the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy recognized the project’s huge economic impact, stating:

The local, state, and national economy is expected to benefit from the permitted project. The facility is expected to enhance the current economy by providing personal income for the facility’s permanent and contract employees; increasing the tax revenues for Caldwell Parish and the State of Louisiana; and necessitating the purchase of goods and services from other businesses. Additionally, the facility is expected to benefit their industrial customers in the area supporting continuation and in some cases expansion of those facilities, their employees and the local, state and national economic impact that they provide. These benefits are major, significant, and tangible. They outweigh the environmental impact costs of the operation of the facility.

With the Class VI permit secured, Strategic Biofuels can now advance power capacity that is directly aligned with the permitted reservoir’s permanent CO₂ storage capacity, connecting clean energy generation with verified long-term carbon management. This milestone positions the LGF project as a scalable model for delivering reliable carbon-negative power, permanent carbon storage and lasting economic opportunity for Caldwell Parish and the State of Louisiana.

Strategic Biofuels is a project development company advancing carbon-negative renewable energy solutions. The company’s flagship project, LGF, in northeast Louisiana will be delivered in phases, beginning with a 300MW clean energy biomass-fired power plant featuring on-site carbon capture and sequestration. Learn more about Strategic Biofuels and the LGF project here: www.strategicbiofuels.com READ MORE