Timber Towns and Forest Futures: In the Piney Woods, SunGas Finds the Key in Green Methanol

June 02, 2025

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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... If you mosey through this fine country, down creeks that smell of sassafrass, near the ancient waters of the Red River when it reaches Central Louisiana, you’d find Beaver Lake, where the here the old pursuit of forest riches now takes a new form: clean fuel, steady work, and a future made from what the woods have always offered.

Where once stood a pulp and paper mill—closed since 2009, its lights out and jobs gone—now comes a new kind of promise. SunGas Renewables plans to process 2.5 million tons of forest thinnings, slash, and sawmill residues annually—converting them into 500,000 tonnes of green methanol. That’s not just a fuel stream—it’s a revenue stream, a job creator, and a signal to forestry towns across the U.S. and Canada: we’re back in business

The feedstock numbers match the old paper mill’s inputs almost exactly, but the end product is something new entirely—advanced biofuels with low carbon intensity, serving sectors like marine shipping, aviation, and green chemistry. With $50+ million already committed to front-end engineering and a projected $2.5 billion construction budget, this project could create over 1,000 jobs during peak construction and more than 100 permanent roles.

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SunGas isn’t stopping at Beaver Lake. They’re scouting sites across Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Texas. The forest is big. The need is bigger. And the opportunity is wide open. This tech doesn’t need a megacity. It needs a mill town. A woodlot. A county with a little grit, a little smarts, and a whole lot of trees.

As SunGas CEO Robert Rigdon put it, “Our goal is to build several new biofuel production facilities over the next decade, which will likely be concentrated throughout the South and Southeast of the United States.” The company’s technology, backed by strategic partner C2X, can convert sustainable forestry by-products into valuable fuels—and that opens the door for more than a dozen communities already working to prepare the way.

Here are some we see real opportunity with, 15 BDO Zones and high-potential sites each uniquely suited to host the next generation of renewable fuels:

Bon Wier, TX – A legacy timber community with 2.2 million tons of forest waste and mill residues, and strong support from local industry. It’s all set for fuel-grade ambition.
Greenbrier Valley, WV – With more trees than people and growth-to-removal ratios up to 14:1, this is stewardship country. The forest here keeps giving.
Quesnel, BC – One of Canada’s premier wood basins, Quesnel combines fiber access with mill infrastructure and a legacy of innovation.
Butte County, CA – Wildfire-prone and biomass-rich, Butte’s urgent need for forest cleanup aligns perfectly with SunGas’s fuel-forward mission.
Coconino, AZ – Remote, dry, and densely forested, it’s a prime example of where slash becomes solution.
Conecuh County, AL – Quietly ready, with rail, road, and fiber to spare. A sleeper pick for methanol.
San Juan County, UT – Rich in low-grade pinyon-juniper biomass, the area is seeking economic rebirth through clean industry.
Tazewell, VA – Appalachian transition in motion, with underutilized fiber and a readiness to pivot from coal to clean.
Trois-Rivières, QC – A Quebecois hub where industry meets forest, with carbon reduction top of mind and public buy-in already deep.
Wyoming County, PA – Strategically located and community-driven, it’s a region with a strong history of energy and a will to evolve.
Kemper County, MS – “Everybody knows everybody,” says local developer Steven. That means fast calls, fast permits, and a family mindset that gets projects built.
Lewis County, WA – West Coast forest culture with rail and port access. Timber is tradition here — and the next chapter is green.
Natchez, MS – A port town steeped in wood products and logistics, Natchez blends heritage with global reach.
Cameron County, PA – “We’ve got more dirt roads than paved,” says Joshua, a local entrepreneur. “That means quality of life, recreation, and real forest work side by side.”
Pointe Coupée Parish, LA – rated “A” for woody biomass, with a capacity for 1,300,000 bone dry tons per year, long-term private forest ownership and strong endorsement from local logging companies.
Richland Parish, LA – rated “A” for woody biomass, including pulpwood, forest residues, and sawmill residuals, including 341 acres of development-ready land adjacent to the Livonia Union Pacific Rail Yard
Clarksville, AR – rated ‘AA’, or very low risk, based on steady and reliable generation of large volumes of biomass

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But now comes a better way. We don’t burn the forest down—we take just enough. Thinnings, tops, slash, sawdust. We lift it gently from the land, not as a torch but as a promise. Gasify it. Clean it. Upgrade it on site. No more shipping logs and hope and watching value drain away downstream. We’re not piping out problems—we’re exporting solutions. The old moral dilemma of Red River—of burning through what you’ve inherited just to hold on to power—meets its match not in fire, but in flow. Not in liquids, but in gas streams. READ MORE

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