The International Conference on Thermochemical Conversion Science:
Biomass & Municipal Solid Waste to RNG, Biofuels & Chemicals
September 10–12, 2024 | Westin Hotel, Itasca, IL
Conference Speakers
Conference tracks in 2024 center around thermochemical conversion of biomass and municipal solid waste (MSW) to renewable gas (RNG), liquid fuels, and chemicals with speakers selected by peer review.
Welcome Remarks
Paula A. Gant, PhD President and CEO, GTI Energy
Dr. Paula Gant is President and CEO of GTI Energy, a leading technology development organization focused on designing and scaling low-carbon, low-cost energy transition solutions. She has a passion for building collaborative teams, aligning innovation with impact, and convening diverse stakeholders to pursue solutions to consequential energy system challenges. As Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oil & Natural Gas and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, she oversaw technology research, national security and clean energy deployment programs for the U.S. Department of Energy. She has also held leadership roles for the American Gas Association and Duke Energy Corporation. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Energy Leadership Institute and is a graduate of McNeese State University in Louisiana and Auburn University in Alabama.
Keynote Speaker
Vikrant Chopra Technology Development Manager, LanzaJet
Vikrant Chopra is a seasoned energy sector professional with over two decades of experience in technology development and evaluation, process optimization, and project execution. In his current role at LanzaJet, Vikrant leads initiatives to improve the company’s proprietary Alcohol to Sustainable Aviation Fuel technology by reducing capital costs and thereby accelerating its commercialization.
His expertise spans from initial ideation to the implementation of opportunities, with a deep understanding of technology value engineering and risk mitigation.
Previously at Shell, Vikrant held various roles that involved developing innovative technology solutions for complex business problems, supporting technology strategy, and providing strategy implementation support. His expertise includes catalyst sales, organizational design, and business improvement.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology. Passionate about sustainability, he has volunteered for EarthWatch Institute's conservation projects in Sabah Rainforest.
Kenneth Hill Senior Consultant/Contractor, U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office
Kenneth is an Independent Strategy Consultant and Senior Business Executive with project finance, business, and project development expertise working with multinational and startup technology companies in the renewable fuels (SAF, Renewable Diesel, 2G ethanol, methanol, etc.), biochemicals, biomaterials, carbon capture, and sustainable hydrogen industries. He previously served as Global Business Director for Cellulosic Ethanol/Enzymes at DuPont and as Chief Commercial Officer for GranBio Technologies. Currently, Kenneth operates a global consultancy, serving clients in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. His client list includes circular economy startups and multinationals that chemically recycle materials, create low-carbon fuels and chemicals, and valorize captured carbon to make fuels, chemicals, polymers, and materials. As part of this practice, Kenneth also serves as a Senior Contractor Consultant in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office providing Outreach and Business Development for clean fuels, renewable chemicals/polymers, and biomaterials companies focused on commercializing new technologies in the U.S. with significant reductions in GHG emissions and who seek project financing from the U.S. Department of Energy. Kenneth has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Mississippi State University and a Masters in Global Management (MGM) from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. He currently resides in Wilmington, Delaware USA.
Anja Oasmaa Senior Advisor, Thermal Liquefaction and Upgrading, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd
Dr. Anja Oasmaa (PhD, Lic.Sc. Tech.), is a Senior Advisor at VTT. She has over 40 years of experience in thermal conversion processes, especially in liquefaction and pyrolysis of biomass and wastes including i.e. bio-oil characterization, post-treatments, and applications. Anja made her Licenciate Thesis on high-pressure liquefaction of pulping industry side-streams and her PhD on fuel oil quality of fast pyrolysis bio-oil. Anja has a wide global network and she has lead development of analytical methods, norms, and standards for fast pyrolysis bio-oils. She participated to the IEA Bioenergy Task 34 “Direct Thermochemical Liquefaction” for 22 years, and was active in arranging international round robins to validate analytical methods for fast pyrolysis bio-oils. Anja is also actively involved in circular economy work at VTT, especially applying pyrolysis technology for plastics. Anja has over 80 peer reviewed publications in international journals and books with H-index of 43. Anja has several patents and invention disclosures related to fast pyrolysis technology, bio-oil post-treatment, and plastic pyrolysis technology.
Reyhaneh Shenassa Chief Engineer, Bioenergy Technologies, Office of the U.S. Department of Energy
Dr. Reyhaneh Shenassa joined the Bioenergy Technologies Office of the U.S. Department of Energy in March 2021 to serve as Chief Engineer. In this role, Reyhaneh is working on addressing key challenges to the integration and scale-up of bioenergy technologies. For over 20 years, Reyhaneh worked with Valmet, a global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. She served as the R&D manager in Valmet’s North American office. Reyhaneh obtained her B.A.Sc. in chemical engineering from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran, and her M.A.Sc. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from University of Toronto, Canada. She has been an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto since 2014. Reyhaneh holds a patent on Catalytic Upgrading of Pyrolytic Vapors.
Plenary Speakers
Robert C. Brown Distinguished Professor, Iowa State University
Dr. Brown is Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering and Gary and Donna Hoover Chair in Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State University (ISU). He is the founding director and currently co-director of ISU’s Bioeconomy Institute. He holds courtesy appointments in Chemical and Biological Engineering, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, and Food Science and Nutrition. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and a Fellow of the American Institute of Mechanical Engineers. His research interests include advanced biofuels, plastics upcycling, and carbon negative energy. Dr. Brown has written over 300 scientific papers and has been awarded 26 U.S. patents. He wrote Biorenewable Resources: Engineering New Products from Agriculture, widely used as a textbook around the world.
David C. Dayton Senior Fellow, Chemistry, RTI International
Dr. David C. Dayton is a Senior Fellow (Chemistry) at RTI International with 30 years of project management and research experience in biomass thermochemical conversion R&D projects involving biomass combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis. His current research activities include catalytic biomass pyrolysis technology development, biocrude separations and upgrading, synthesis gas conversion, cleanup, and conditioning, and experimental programs relating to biomass thermochemical conversion for biofuels and bioproducts. These R&D activities are focused on expanding integrated biorefinery technology development activities for advanced biofuel production.
Prior to coming to RTI, Dr. Dayton managed biomass thermochemical conversion projects for the U.S. Department of Energy at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and was a postdoctoral research associate at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. He received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a B.S. in Chemistry from Dickinson College.
Dr. Dayton has published over 70 technical papers, book chapters, and government reports. He recently co-authored a book entitled “Analytical Methods for Biomass Characterization and Conversion” and has adjunct faculty positions in the Energy and Environmental Systems Department at North Carolina A&T State University and in the Forest Biomaterials Department, College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University.
Andrew Kramer VP Product Development & Technology, SunGas Renewables
Mr. Kramer brings critical experience to the SunGas team with many years of experience directing the design, installation, and operation of U-GAS® gasification technology, which is the core technology in SunGas’ fluidized bed gasification product. As Senior R&D Director for GTI Energy, he has supervised an operating crew of up to 40 engineers and technicians for all aspects of design, installation, operation, and maintenance of GTI Energy’s pilot-scale gasification and related facilities including fuel feeding, gas feeding, syngas cleaning, conditioning, and end-use systems. Mr. Kramer has deep knowledge of multiple gasification technologies using a variety of woody biomass feedstocks and was involved in the integration of gasification technology in gas-to-liquid conversions processes, including the TIGAS™ (Topsoe Improved Gasoline Synthesis) process, Fischer-Tropsch, and methanation systems. As GTI Energy Facility Director, he oversaw the daily operation and maintenance of a 50,000 square foot lab/office facility and four additional separate lab spaces, organized the 17 technician and maintenance staff to support the Institute of nearly 300 researchers, scientists, engineers, and additional clerical support staff, planned, coordinated and executed capital projects for the Institute infrastructure, and in support of projects, and maintained work practices and documentation required to meet all Safety, Health and Environmental requirements and all OSHA Process Safety Management regulations.
Gerhard Muggen Managing Director, BTG Bioliquids
Gerhard Muggen is managing director and shareholder of BTG Bioliquids since 2008. As managing director, he is responsible for the strategy of BTG Bioliquids, the business development and the worldwide marketing and sales of the pyrolysis technology. Before BTG Bioliquids Gerhard has been working for Stork, Wartsila Diesel and Holec for more than 10 years in several positions in project management and international sales management.
Gerhard has a passion for export and sustainable energy.
Andrew Palermo Senior Process Engineer, New Process Technologies, Johnson Matthey (JM)
Dr. Andrew Palermo is a Senior Process Engineer for New Process Technologies at Johnson Matthey (JM). Prior to joining JM, Andrew earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from UC Davis, where he studied structure-function relationships of catalysts under the guidance of Bruce Gates and Alex Katz from UC Berkeley. Following his PhD, he worked at ExxonMobil, focusing on the commercialization of fluid bed catalysts and the scale-up of new process technologies. He then served as the scale-up lead for selective hydroprocessing technologies of biobased feedstocks at Origin Materials. At JM, Andrew is engaged in process conceptualization and flowsheeting for breakthrough technologies, aiming to achieve successful process scale-up.
Keith Simons Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Futuria Fuels
Since joining SHV Energy in 2015, Keith has been instrumental in the development and expansion of the company’s renewable energy solutions. His initial role was as a consultant, but he became a formal part of the company in 2019 before moving to become the CTO of Futuria Fuels in 2023.
As an Industrial Chemist by training, and with experience in innovation management in sustainable energy and carbon abatement technologies, he has been central to development of the scientific base for new technology in Futuria Fuels. By establishing collaborative Research and Development programmes, Keith is identifying and supporting technologies which will help SHV Energy to reach the goal of being increasingly low carbon. This includes technologies based around bioLPG, renewable Dimethyl Ether (rDME) and hydrogen.
As CTO of Futuria Fuels, he leads global teams of experienced research and development professionals, both within SHV Energy and externally, together with academic groups in Europe, North and South America and recently Southern Africa and India.
His scientific and technical leadership has resulted in the development of a process for the production of On-purpose manufacture of BioLPG from Ethanol. Keith also supported the development of components with the potential to be qualified for use as Sustainable Aviation Fuel. This patent-pending route is currently being tested, in a partnership between Futuria Fuels and GTI Energy, at a pilot plant in Chicago.
Keith has also supported the establishment of a joint venture between Kew Technologies and SHV Energy. Circular Fuels Limited, now a joint-venture with Dimeta, is aiming to establish an Advanced Conversion Technology for renewable and low-carbon rDME production. As a result, the first dedicated rDME demonstration plant will be built in the UK during 2024. This will soon by followed by commercial production plants, which will be the first of their kind.
His contribution to promoting scientific and technical progress has been recognised with innovation awards from the World LPG Association in both 2021 and 2022. He was also recognized by Biofuels Digest magazine as being one of the top 500 global leaders in the bioeconomy field in 2023 and 2024.
Keith regularly publishes his scientific work with partners in peer-reviewed journals and was formerly Chair of the World Biogas Association Policy, Innovation and Technical Committee.
Before joining SHV Energy, Keith held roles in many organisations including Johnson Matthey, Avantium Technologies, BP, Elastopoli, Oxford University and the European Commission. These posts covered a wide range of commercial, scientific, teaching and consulting positions.
Panelist Speakers
Zia Abdullah Laboratory Program Manager for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), NREL
Prior to joining NREL, Zia has been CTO at Equinox Chemicals/Versa Renewables, Fellow at Battelle Memorial Institute and Engineering Advisor/Fellow at Weyerhaeuser Company. Zia is a PhD Mechanical engineer and an MBA with expertise in technology management and deployment. He has extensive accomplishments in converting biomass to fuels and chemicals. His experience includes more than 25 years of research and development in biomass conversion, as well as process scaleup and deployment, new product development, business development, and project management.
His technical leadership experience in R&D projects related to biomass include fast pyrolysis, gasification, gasifier design, extractions and separation technologies, biomass pretreatment, fermentation, lignin extraction and conversion, carbon fibers and CFD modeling.
Robert G. Graham
Founder, Ensyn
2024 Don Klass Award Recipient
Dr. Robert Graham, Non-Executive Chairman of Ensyn Corporation, is Ensyn’s founder and has led Ensyn’s commercial and technical development since the first Ensyn company was established in 1984.
In March 2020, Bob stepped down as CEO but continues to be actively engaged as an advisor to Ensyn’s senior management team. Bob is Canada’s pre-eminent authority in his field of applied engineering, the production of value-added products via fast thermal conversion of carbon-based feedstocks. Bob’s early work from first principles led to development of Ensyn’s core RTP™ conversion technology and early commercial applications for the production of specialty chemicals and heating fuels from wood residues.
Bob led Ensyn’s initiative to become a global leader in the production of cellulosic liquid fuels, establishing several key strategic relationships, including with Honeywell UOP, Suzano, Chevron Technology Ventures and Tesoro.
Dr. Graham was awarded the 2014 Purvis Memorial Award by the Chemical Institute of Canada for conceptualizing and commercializing the RTP technology and the 2016 Holmberg Award by the Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference for Lifetime Achievement in Bioenergy. Dr. Graham has published over 60 works in technical and trade journals, and has been granted more than 30 patents relating to the conversion of wood and other biomass to chemicals and fuels as well as the upgrading of petroleum.
He obtained a B.Sc. from Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario and an M. Eng and Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario, London.
Conor Madigan Co-founder and CEO, Aether Fuels
Conor Madigan is the co-founder and CEO of Aether Fuels, a climate tech company developing highly scalable solutions through their breakthrough sustainable liquid fuel production technology. Conor previously founded and ran Kateeva, one of the world’s leading suppliers of OLED manufacturing equipment, which helps make the screens on most Samsung smartphones and iPhones. He has a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from MIT, and in April 2022, Conor launched Aether Fuels with Xora Innovation.
Terry Marker Senior Institute Engineer, GTI Energy
Terry is currently employed by GTI Energy as the Bioenergy Initiatives Manager and Senior Institute Engineer. Terry has 50 years of experience in the biorenewable, petroleum and petrochemical industry, including 14 years at GTI Energy, 20 years at UOP, 10 years at Amoco, and 5 Years at ARCO. Terry has worked in conversion of biorenewables to fuels for the last 25 years and authored the DOE report “Opportunities for Biorenewables in Oil Refineries”, which has led to the use of biorenewables in oil refineries throughout the world. Terry is one of the inventors of the UOP’s Ecofining Process and served as the team leader of the Ecofining Team at UOP which developed and commercialized the Ecofining process which converts vegetable oil, fats and grease into diesel and jet fuel through hydrodeoxygenation and hydroisomerization. Today there are 20 Ecofining units throughout the world. Terry also is one of the inventors of the IH2 process, developed at GTI Energy, which converts cellulosic biomass to drop in transportation fuels. The IH2 process is licensed to Shell and has been successfully tested in Bangalore India on the 5 ton/day scale. Terry has 80 US patents and numerous technical publications and has years of experience in hydroconversion, hydrocracking, pyrolysis, FCC, synfuel production, catalysis, hydropyrolysis, process design and economics. Terry was also team leader of the UOP/Hydro MTO process which converts methanol to olefins and today produces 3 million tons/year of ethylene and propylene from methanol. Terry also helped to commercialize UOP’s Ethermax process for making MTBE and UOP’s Oxypro process which makes isopropyl ether. Terry has an MS in Chemical Engineering from IIT and a BS in Chemistry from the University of Illinois.
Mike McCurdy, MBA, P.E. Principal, Independent Engineering Services, Senior Advisor, ICF
Mr. McCurdy supports lenders, developers, and select government clients in the financing, sale, and purchase of conventional and renewable chemical and fuel assets both in the U.S. and internationally. As an MBA educated, licensed, professional engineer with 24 years of industry experience, Mr. McCurdy has served as both a lenders and owners engineer and his responsibilities have included technical and economic reviews for the equity, debt, mezz-debt, bond and institutional financing of emerging and established technologies, monitoring of construction and performance testing, and technical support for non-standard lending events such as debtor-in-possession financing and workout situations. Mr. McCurdy has led or been a lead technical contributor for numerous advanced fermentation technologies including the Poet Liberty and Abengoa Hugoton Cellulosic ethanol projects, Newlight PHA biodegradable plastic, White Dog Labs SCP, INEOS New Planet Energy Cellulosic Fermentation, Edeniq/Logos Cellulosic Ethanol, biomass/waste pyrolysis projects including technologies such as Ensyn, UOP, GTI, INEOS, Frontline, Green Mantra, Agilyx, Envion, Millennium Carbon; renewable diesel production technologies such as UOP’s ecofining, Cobalt Alcohol to Jet, ARA renewable jet, as well as a number of biodiesel production technologies. Prior to ICF, Mr. McCurdy provided technical due diligence services at Leidos, Inc. (formerly R.W. Beck) where he managed biofuel IE due diligence services for projects using a number of renewable diesel/jet production technologies. In addition to his technical duties, Mr. McCurdy is leading ICF’s SAF strategy efforts for airlines providing market and technical assistance for strategic sourcing efforts to develop multi-tiered strategies for the long-term sourcing of SAF and monetization of additional value via SAF certificates. Mr. McCurdy has previously provided technical due diligence services for the Bango Oil re-Refining operation east of Reno, Nevada as well as for a confidential developer utilizing the Mohawk re- refining process.
John Murphy Executive Director, Castlerock Green Energy
John Murphy is a developer and finance professional with close to twenty years of experience in the energy industry. Prior to embarking on his numerous private investments as an entrepreneur over the last ten years, he was a senior analyst on an energy and infrastructure long-short equity portfolio at Green Arrow Capital Management in New York and Highbridge Capital Partners in San Francisco. John also worked as a Vice President in the Global Energy Group at Credit Suisse, and as an associate in the Natural Resources Group at Banc of America Securities. While at Credit Suisse, John advised numerous companies across multiple sectors on a combination of debt and equity financings and M&A transactions. John holds an MBA from Georgia Tech and a BS in Mathematics from the University of Notre Dame.
Stéphane Marie-Rose Director, R&D, Enerkem
Stéphane Marie-Rose is at the forefront of Enerkem’s research and development, spearheading innovative advancements in catalytic chemistry. He drives the cutting-edge research on transforming syngas into valuable fuels and chemicals derived from urban biomass and municipal solid waste.
Since joining Enerkem’s research team in 2009, Stéphane has been instrumental in pioneering catalytic processes for methanol production and refining Enerkem’s ethanol technology. His expertise was crucial in securing the Sky's the Limit Challenge award between 2019 and 2022, where Enerkem, in collaboration with CRB, developed a breakthrough sustainable aviation fuel from urban and forestry biomass residues.
Beyond Enerkem, Stéphane has been collaborating with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) since 2016, focusing on synthesizing high-octane biofuels from biomethanol. His work extends across borders, involving research partnerships with groups in Canada and the EU on the valorization of synthesis gas.
Stéphane Marie-Rose holds a Ph.D. in Catalysis Chemistry from the Université de Poitriers (France). He has also co-authored three book chapters and 18 scientific publications including articles, patents.
Conference Co-Chairs
Pedro Ortiz-Toral Program Director, Bio-Energy, Carbon Management & Conversion, GTI Energy
Dr. Pedro Ortiz-Toral leads the Bioenergy Program at GTI Energy, in the United States, where he works to advance breakthrough conversion technologies that contribute to the global energy transition. Over the last decade he has focused on renewable process development for bioenergy and renewable products, making significant contributions in this field. He is currently leading bioenergy project and program development, acting as liaison between industry and research, technical due diligence, and program strategy. His technology portfolio includes notable advancements such as IH2®, Cool GTL, Cool Reforming, and Cool LPG. His contributions have been acknowledged through the acquisition of six US patents, all related to the conversion of gases and waste materials into valuable fuels and products. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University in 2011. He was recently named one of Bioeconomy's 500 by Biofuels Digest in 2023 and 2024 for his leadership in the bioeconomy’s development and deployment.
Robert M. (Bob) Baldwin Principal Scientist, National Renewable Energy (NREL)
As Principal Scientist at NREL, Bob's research focuses on biomass conversion (pyrolysis and gasification) and upgrading of bio-derived intermediates (bio-oil and syngas). He also directs program and business development activities for the Bioenergy Science and Technology Directorate and leads the Market Impact Platform. Prior to NREL Bob was a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines for 30 years including 9 years as department head. He is a founder of the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi, where he spent 10 years in various academic and leadership roles. Bob has the PhD in Chemical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines and the BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University.
Berend Vreugdenhil Lead Scientist Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals, TNO Energy
Berend Vreugdenhil holds an M.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University Delft. In 2006 he started his career at TNO, where research was focused on developing indirect gasification technology to produce sustainable natural gas from biomass.
He mostly worked with gasification and gas cleaning based on TNO technology MILENA and OLGA. Co-production of chemicals such as BTX and ethylene became increasingly relevant when gasification of waste. At a later stage he became leader of the gasification group within TNO. More recently the activities have expanded into the direction of thermo chemical recycling of plastic waste streams. There is overlap with gasification for the bio-based economy, therefor the knowledge in this field can be applied directly to the field of plastics recycling.
Since 2019 he is chairing IEA Bioenergy Task 33 on Gasification and within this task force the application of gasification towards fuels, hydrogen and other applications is further developed and supported. He is also part of the Management Board of EERA Bioenergy.
As of 2024 he is Lead Scientist on the topic of sustainable fuels and chemicals within TNO.
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