By Wojciech Wrzesien / Shutterstock
Toronto-based Woodland Biofuels has unveiled plans for a groundbreaking $1.35 billion investment at the Port of South Louisiana. The project aims to establish the world’s largest carbon-negative renewable natural gas plant and ultra-green hydrogen facility, pushing the boundaries of carbon negative technology.
The facility, to be located at the Globalplex multimodal facility, will collect waste biomass to produce sustainable biofuel and biobunkers for transportation, heating, and electricity generation. It will be developed in two phases: Phase 1 will focus on creating the world’s largest carbon-negative renewable natural gas facility, while Phase 2 will introduce the world’s largest carbon-negative ultra-green hydrogen plant.
The carbon-negative investment is expected to generate significant employment opportunities. Phase 1 alone is projected to create approximately 500 construction jobs and 110 high-paying, permanent, direct new jobs. Louisiana Economic Development estimates an additional 259 indirect new jobs, bringing the total to 869 jobs, with 369 being permanent.
“Our carbon negative sustainable biofuel plant will be an economic driver for St. John Parish and beyond. We look forward to establishing deep ties with the local community, drawing on the existing world-class workforce and utilizing Louisiana’s exceptional infrastructure to execute on our project,” said Woodland Biofuels CEO Greg Nuttall.
Environmental impact is a key focus of the project. The facility aims to permanently remove hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually, with Phase 1 expected to remove 210,000 tonnes of CO2 per year and Phase 2 removing approximately 660,000 tonnes annually.
To support the project, Louisiana Economic Development has offered Woodland Biofuels an incentives package valued at more than $250 million. This includes performance-based grants, economic development programs for infrastructure improvements, and workforce development solutions.
Commercial operations for the first phase are projected to commence in 2028.
“Port of South Louisiana is the second ranked port in the nation for energy transfer,” Port of South Louisiana CEO Paul Matthews said. “This significant investment by Woodland Biofuels to construct the world’s largest carbon negative renewable natural gas plant and a large-scale green hydrogen facility at our Globalplex Intermodal Terminal proves that PortSL and the state of Louisiana are leading the way in diversifying our energy industry, which will result in the creation of hundreds of high-paying jobs for River Region families.”
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