Biochar developer says first‑of‑its‑kind Vermont plant in permitting process

Evan Folio, owner of Synergy Bioproducts, told the House Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry Committee that his company is pursuing permits to build a commercial biochar facility in the Linden industrial park and that the project would include on‑site power generation.

Folio said the facility is in permitting: it has an air‑emissions permit from the Department of Environmental Conservation, a stormwater construction permit, and is undergoing the Section 248 Certificate of Public Good process. “We’re in the permitting process,” Folio said. “It would be the first of its kind in the state,” he added, explaining that the plant would produce biochar while capturing fuel gases to generate electricity and heat used in processing.

Folio described biochar as a soil amendment and filter media that can sequester carbon and as a precursor for other industrial uses. He said the project would accept low‑value woody biomass, dry that feedstock and use captured gases for internal energy needs — a configuration he compared to an anaerobic digestion facility where gas is used in an engine to produce electricity and heat.

On scale, Folio told the committee the project would generate “just over 2 megawatts of electricity.” He also compared the plant’s chip utilization to existing Vermont biomass plants, saying the project would use “about 5% of what Burlington uses” and just under 10% of the amount used at another plant referenced in the discussion; he described the project as “very small” relative to larger regional plants.

Folio said there is market interest from farmers and local businesses for commercial volumes of biochar and that the venture supports forest and farm markets by using low‑value biomass. He urged clearer permitting timelines and suggested that permitting specialists could help new firms navigate state requirements.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about whether the facility would sell power to the grid and whether it was the first of its kind in Vermont; Folio confirmed both. The committee did not take formal action on the project at the meeting.