Wicomico County hearing reviews pilot poultry-litter pyrolysis plan from International Bio Refineries

A Wicomico County hearing on a proposed poultry-litter processing facility focused on technical, regulatory and zoning questions after the owner of International Bio Refineries described the company's pilot project and a University of Maryland scientist outlined environmental trade-offs.

At the hearing, the company's witness and owner, identified in testimony as Mr. Katheria, said International Bio Refineries (also referred to in the record as INBIO) received a $1,900,000 grant from the Maryland Department of Agriculture in February 2020 to support on-farm equipment and assembly. He also testified that he is a 90% owner of International Bio Refineries and that the company holds patents for the technology under the corporate owner, International Bio Refineries. Mr. Katheria described the pilot as a small-scale site designed to process about three tons of poultry litter per day; he and his consultants said larger commercial designs under study would process roughly 50 to 100 tons per day.

The project uses a thermochemical process the witnesses called pyrolysis, which the company says produces three outputs: bio-oil, biochar and syngas. Mr. Katheria said the pilot at the Hickory Mill location is a smaller-scale deployment and that the grant paid for equipment and assembly while the farm property was purchased separately as Katulia Farms. He told the panel, "I am, 90% owner of that." (testimony).

University of Maryland professor Stephanie Lansing, who…