Waterfront Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and Power Plant
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Project Objective

Strategic Biofuels is building Louisiana Green Fuels (LGF), a carbon-negative waterfront facility in the Port of Columbia, Louisiana, that will produce low-carbon fuels and power. The Port of Columbia is highly supportive of LGF’s mission to produce sustainable aviation fuel and naphtha using forestry waste, mostly roundwood feedstock (logs and round sections of wood) from managed forests that is compliant with the federal renewable fuel standard. In addition, the site will feature a biomass power plant that will run primarily on sawmill waste and other usable biomass waste. The renewable fuels will be shipped by rail to California in compliance with that state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The project also features natural-gas and carbon-dioxide pipelines, three carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) injection wells, and utility interconnects.

Geosyntec’s Scope of Services

As Owner’s Agent and Permitting and Regulatory Manager, Geosyntec’s primary responsibility is to de-risk the project through proactive and integrated permitting strategy and technical evaluations. This work includes oversight of environmental contractors carrying out cultural-resources and environmental field surveys. We developed a comprehensive permit matrix tool to track applicable authorizations, requirements to obtain approvals, time needed to develop the permit materials, agency review times, and critical issues to consider. The tool is also used to rank risks, manage permit fees and budgets, and identify any gaps as design progresses.

With the project in pre-FEED (pre-front-end engineering design), we built out the master schedule to include permitting and regulatory work that must be started or completed before construction begins. We also streamlined environmental surveys and reporting to align with United States Department of Energy (DOE) requirements. In addition to environmental services, we led the development of the community benefits plan, a key component of the overall DOE Title 17 Part II application.

Notable Accomplishments

Geosyntec’s permitting and regulatory strategy for the project supports the client in effectively and efficiently meeting state, federal, and DOE-specific requirements. This work includes creating a comprehensive collection of baseline information that can be parceled out to agencies that need particular components, like data relating to water supply, air quality, wastewater discharge, natural resources, or land development.