Woodland Biomass Innovations: Turning PA Wilds renewable resources into revenue
BIG IDEA Spotlight: Woodland Biomass Innovations
Editor’s Note: Designed to shine a spotlight on the variety of rural innovation bubbling up across the Pennsylvania Wilds, this article is part of a series that features six innovators who were named as finalists in the 2024 PA Wilds BIG IDEA Contest.
Luca Pandolfi is on a mission. He wants to turn waste into fuel in a way that can be replicated globally, localizing production, benefiting the community, and boosting the local economies. To develop this project, he is starting with waste products in the PA Wilds.
Fuel is already being produced from waste products, Pandolfi says. But the substance of the waste products can make a huge impact. “Landfill trash doesn’t work well because it isn’t homogenous—some materials like metals can’t be used at all, and others need pretreatment,” he said.
But what about a homogenous bioproduct available in near-infinite supply that would help the ecosystem as it was being removed?
Enter Woodland Biomass Innovations. The startup aims to remove fallen trees from the forest floor where they are decomposing, releasing CO2 into the atmosphere, and blocking new growth, and turning them into gasoline that is chemically identical to existing fossil fuel sources. The approach would allow the company to immediately start reducing carbon impact from transportation, without the need for environmentally and financially costly switches to modes of transportation and distribution.
Pandolfi’s mother is American and his father is Italian. They met as workers for the United Nations, and as a result, Luca spent half his childhood in Africa and the other half in Italy, attending international schools the whole time. By the time he flew to the United States to start college at Ithaca College, he was determined to work for solutions for the developing countries where he had spent his formative years. “Fuel is a huge problem in places like Africa,” he said. “But even more than just getting the fuel—it has to be transported to where it’s needed. This concept would help solve some of those issues by localizing the supply of transportation fuels, however, we need to start here in the United States. Pennsylvania is a perfect testing ground, you have everything you need to get the project off the ground in the simplest way possible. If we can do it here first, then we can use that model to expand to other regions, first in Pennsylvania, then nationally, with the hope of eventually expanding globally.”
He says that Tioga County has been the ideal location for the new company to develop and grow. “I was shopping around for a while, but Tioga County immediately grabbed us, and wanted to support our vision and help get us the resources to make it happen. My co-founder, Rich Bohr, has lived in Tioga County for over a decade now, and he’s the one who really convinced me to move it here.”
“Pennsylvania is the ideal place to launch this first-of-its-kind plant for many reasons,” he added. “For example, the average tree in a Pennsylvania forest is 75 years old, and many in that age group will start dying and falling to the forest floor, where they will keep new plants and trees from growing while slowly decomposing and releasing CO2. Removing the dead trees will allow for better sustainable management, supporting healthy forest ecosystems in PA Wilds.”
Today, Woodland BIO is in early development, having completed the first phase of engineering work. In this phase the company has set up supply agreements for the material that it will need—an estimated 600 dry tons per day— and secured a property for the first site. Pandolfi and his team have used that information to build a conceptual feasibility model that allows them to test different parameters like gasoline prices, labor costs, or biomass prices. The team is now looking for financing to work with an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) Firm on the second phase of engineering work.
“Getting past this second phase will allow us to access a variety of new financing sources,” Pandolfi said. “There are a variety of grants as well as private investment opportunities that we can access only after Phase Two engineering is completed.”
After phase two is completed, the initial estimate for Phase Three is $2.25 million, with an overall cost of $250 million to fully build the facility after engineering. Pandolfi and his team are looking to crowdsourcing platform Wefunder, angel investors, private equity, venture capital—and are hoping for a vital jump start from the Big Idea contest.
“If we win the Big Idea competition, I would not need to consult for other companies anymore, and could dedicate 100% of my energy to Woodland BIO while investing money into marketing and outreach to ensure we have a successful fundraising campaign,” Pandolfi said.
Follow Woodland Biomass’s development as a first-of-its kind energy solution in the PA Wilds at https://www.woodlandbio.com/. Want to be part of the launch? Find out about investment opportunities at https://wefunder.com/woodlandbiomassinnovations.
About the PA Wilds BIG IDEA Contest Series: The PA Wilds BIG IDEA Contests were part of a three-year initiative funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission. Made possible by a collaboration between Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern PA, PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program and Small Business Development Centers that serve the Pennsylvania Wilds, the contest took place annually, with each contest focusing on a different portion of the rural 13-county region and offering a chance to win up to $50,000. The 2022 contest included counties in the I-80 Frontier landscape, the 2023 contest included counties in the Allegheny National Forest & Surrounds and Elk Country landscapes, and the 2024 contest focused on counties in the Dark Skies and the Pine Creek Valley & PA Grand Canyon landscapes. After the three-year series concluded, more than $150,000 was invested in rural entrepreneurs, while participants who did not win cash prizes received invaluable technical assistance and business support. Additional details can be found at CNP.BenFranklin.org/BigIdea.
About Ben Franklin Technology Partners: The largest seed investor in our region, Ben Franklin Technology Partners (an initiative of the PA Department of Community & Economic Development and funded by the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority) has been providing investment capital, business support services, and operational assistance to emerging tech-startups and small manufacturers for nearly 40 years. Since the start of the BIG IDEA contests, more than $3 million in cash prizes have been awarded throughout Ben Franklin’s 32-county footprint in central and northern Pennsylvania. The contest offers start-ups and entrepreneurs some much-needed seed funding, as well as business training, pitch experience, and industry contacts – often more valuable than the prize money itself. Learn more at www.CNP.BenFranklin.org. For more information, contact Karly Scala at karlyscala@cnp.benfranklin.org.
About the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship: The PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc., is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to integrate conservation and economic development in a way that inspires the communities of the Pennsylvania Wilds. The Pennsylvania Wilds is a 13-county region that includes the counties of Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Tioga, Warren, and northern Centre. The PA Wilds Center promotes the region and its 2+ million acres of public lands as a premier outdoor recreation destination as a way to diversify local economies, inspire stewardship, attract investment, retain population and improve quality of life. The PA Wilds Center’s core programs seek to help businesses leverage the PA Wilds brand and connect with new market opportunities, including: the Wilds Cooperative of PA, a network of more than 575 place-based businesses and organizations, and the PA Wilds Conservation Shop, a retail outlet primarily featuring products sourced from the WCO. For more information on the PA Wilds Center, visit www.PAWildsCenter.org. To learn more about the WCO, visit www.WildsCoPA.org. Explore the PA Wilds at www.PAWilds.com. Find regionally made products at www.ShopThePAWilds.com.
