Advocating for Public Policies to Promote the Development & Production of Alternative Fuels, Renewable Chemicals, Biobased Products, and Sustainable Aviation Fuels
Alternative Fuels & Chemicals Coalition
Workshop Sessions
AFCC Conference Workshop Sessions
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Workshop Session Details​
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All Workshops will be on Tuesday, November 14, from 10 AM to 11:30 AM
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The AFCC Workshop sessions will offer a hands-on approach to learning in addition to skills-building. These sessions will offer a moderated, in-depth discussion among a group of experts offering diverse viewpoints around a particular topic.
The Workshop sessions are for those who seek to grow their industrial biotechnology knowledge, investment opportunities, government funding and for those seeking capital and sustainable solutions to real-world problems. These workshops will be packed with high energy and a must-attend event.
The AFCC Global Biobased Economy Conference & Exhibit organizes these workshops in order to connect you, the attendee, to industry leaders’ suppliers, investors, government agencies, engineering and construction organizations, technology insurance solutions, and peers. AFCC workshops are sponsored events from both public and private organizations.
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Workshop sessions will be focused on the following five subject areas:
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Biobased Manufacturing: Renewable Chemicals, Bioplastics, Biomaterials Creating a Cleaner Planet
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Sustainable Feedstocks, Biofuels, Food and Feed Products Driving Decarbonization
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Synthetic Biology, Alternative Proteins, Regenerative Agriculture, Food, Fiber, Biofuels
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1. State of the Art Bioeconomy Project Financing: Debt, Equity, Insurance and Contract Structures - Baltimore 1
Tuesday, November 14 - 10 AM to 11:30 AM
This workshop Sponsored by:
Moderator: Mark J. Riedy, Partner, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP—Sponsor—Legal
Sponsors and Panelists:
Director of Policy, Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Investment and Innovation
David Livingstone
Managing Director, Citigroup Global Markets Inc.—Sponsor—Tax Exempt Bonds
Managing Director - Program Development, New Energy Risk, LLC—Sponsor--Insurance
2. Diversity of Feedstocks to Meet Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and Renewable Chemicals Goals - Baltimore 2
Tuesday, November 14 - 10 AM to 11:30 AM
This workshop Sponsored by:
Moderator: Mark P. Elless, Technology Manager, Renewable Carbon Resources, Bioenergy Technologies Office —Sponsor—Department of Energy
Speakers:
Wendy Owens
CEO, Hexas Biomass
Lynn Wendt
Director, Biomass Feedstock National User Facility,
Idaho National Laboratory
To significantly reduce the negative impacts of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from carbon-based fuels and products critical to our way of life, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched the Clean Fuels & Products Shot™ in May 2023. This Shot, the seventh Energy EarthshotTM, focuses on decarbonizing the fuel and chemical industry through alternative sources of renewable carbon to advance cost-effective technologies with a minimum of 85% lower GHG emissions by 2035. This Energy EarthshotTM supports the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge, which has the goal to produce 3 billion gallons per year of domestic SAF with a minimum of 50% reduction in GHGs by 2030 and supplying 100% of domestic jet fuel used, or 35 billion gallons, by 2050. Achieving the Energy EarthshotTM and SAF goals will require that all >1 billion tons of feedstock resources be deployment-ready at scales meeting production supply needs.
In this session, panelists will address the need for a diverse feedstock portfolio and impactful research and development accomplishments. Research scientists will share information on research needs, supply potential, and opportunities for managing feedstock variability and flowability challenges through advanced characterization and pre-processing for efficient conversion into fuels and chemicals. Additionally, purpose-grown energy crops will have an important role in the renewable feedstocks portfolio. Panelists representing purpose-grown energy crop industries will provide insight into the opportunities, challenges and barriers to wide-scale deployment.
3. Understanding the Economics of Carbon: Navigating Different Prices Across Diverse Markets Fuel - Baltimore 3
Tuesday, November 14 - 10 AM to 11:30 AM
This workshop Sponsored by:
Moderator: Matthew Stone, Managing Director, PRIMA
Speakers:
This workshop will explore the intricate dynamics of carbon pricing in various industrial sectors, with a particular focus on transportation, emission trading schemes, and discretionary schemes in other domains. By examining the diverse pricing mechanisms, we will share insights into the cost structures of firms seeking to decarbonize and identify future decarbonization-related revenue stream opportunities. During the session, we will analyze the impact of legislated mandates and incentives, shedding light on the expected growth patterns in decarbonization solution supply and demand. We will also examine the implications for different industrial sectors, comparing their unique contexts.
The workshop will propose policy enhancements based on international best practices to foster optimal decarbonization outcomes. The scope of discussion will encompass a wide range of topics, including biofuels, synthetic fuels, carbon dioxide removal technologies, and emerging opportunities for non-traditional carbon-intensive sectors—such as pulp and paper, forestry, and cement—to tap into these evolving markets. Matthew Stone, Founder and Managing Director of Prima, will lead the workshop. Prima is a ResourceWise company specializing in research and data in low-carbon transportation fuel markets. With experience in pricing, research, and broking in energy and agricultural commodities since 1998, Matthew has established price benchmarks for low-carbon commodity streams and conducted pioneering market research on new energy streams. Prima's data and research reports are widely used in the energy industry for insights into the renewable energy interface between policy, markets, and fundamentals.
The panel will discuss the most unique, challenging and state of the art bioeconomy funding, tax and contract structures for each of commercial, municipal, corporate and non-traditional debt, equity, grant and insurance in light of the $800 million+ climate and energy funding and long term tax incentives under the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). These funding, tax and contract structures include senior debt and associated leasing mechanisms, development capital, mezzanine debt for working capital, subdebt structures such as New Market Tax Credits and EB5 funds; strategic, institutional, and tax incentive driven equity; (including Opportunity Zone Funds, Biomass Development Opportunity Zones); and credit enhancing technology risk mitigation insurance and government guarantees.
The panel further will examine the IRA investment and production tax (ITCs and PTCs—including Transfer versus Direct Pay versus Tax Equity Structures) incentives and the available IIJA grant opportunities. Panelists also will discuss the most creative contractual structures for offtake agreements, including the use of Federal, State and International tax (PTCs) and regulatory (RINs, LCFS, Canadian Clean Fuel Standard, CORSIA, RED-2, etc.) incentives on top of the wholesale fuel price in pricing provisions, various feedstock—including power to liquids-- considerations, merchant versus long term contractual arrangements, and other necessary provisions.
As part of this analysis, panelists will discuss wholesale/rack fuel prices, LCFS and RIN blended fixed floors and ceilings with related incentive sharing arrangements including percentage developer/offtaker RIN, LCFS and PTC splits; use of renewable hydrogen and captured carbon processing to increase SAF and Renewable Diesel volumes and revenues; mitigation of regulatory-out provisions through regulatory risk insurance protecting RINs, LCFS and tax credits; merchant to short term bio-based products sales agreements; EPC performance guarantees/wraps supported by technology risk insurance protections; use of Section 45Q and renewable power structures to increase LCFS values using insurance protections; use of regulatory risk insurance to protect LCFS, RINs and tax incentives values and feedstock insurance to protect quality and quantity; among other provisions and structures.
Panelists will address these mechanisms and structures from the perspectives of leading offtakers, product developers, government funding officials, project finance attorneys, significant strategic equity and other investors, investment grade insurance companies, and investment and commercial bankers daily securing and structuring funds and the required contracts for bioeconomy manufacturing projects.