Arbor Renewable Gas LLC, a Houston-based company formed in 2019 that produces renewable gasoline and green hydrogen from wood waste and forest residue, is evaluating West Baton Rouge Parish for a planned $800 million manufacturing and distribution facility employing carbon capture and sequestration emissions-reduction technology.
Operating as Magnolia Renewable Fuels LLC, the new facility would produce renewable gasoline from wood waste biomass sourced from Louisiana and Mississippi timber operations. The project would create 32 new direct jobs with average annual salaries of $99,000, plus benefits. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project would also support at least 110 indirect jobs, for a total of 142 new jobs in Louisiana’s Capital Region. The company estimates development of the facility would generate up to 880 construction jobs at peak construction.
The company plans to locate its greenfield facility at the Port Allen Rail Terminal, which offers railroad and highway accessibility and proximity to timber operations. Magnolia will source southern yellow pine pre-commercial thinnings, a byproduct of routine forest management operations. Arbor Gas recently announced a similar project in Beaumont, Texas.
Arbor Gas CEO Timothy Vail said: “At full capacity, this plant will have a production capacity of 2,000 barrels per day of renewable gasoline with the potential for further expansion. The product would be blended with conventional gasoline to achieve renewable fuel standards in the U.S. and Europe.”
Initial plans call for the installation of two product trains, with the capacity for future expansions. Arbor Gas projects that each train will sequester approximately 275,000 tons of CO2 annually. Construction is expected to begin in late 2023, with the first train in operation by the end of 2025.
