Emerson and Strategic Biofuels Partner on Automated Carbon-Neutral Power Project in Louisiana
Time:2026-08-26 Browse: 0
Published: August 26, 2026
Emerson has partnered with Strategic Biofuels to provide automation technologies for the Louisiana Green Fuels (LGF) project in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, a planned $2 billion renewable power facility designed to produce dispatchable electricity while incorporating commercial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS).
The project combines a wood-fuel power plant with an integrated CCS system. Once fully operational, Louisiana Green Fuels is expected to convert approximately 1.3 million tons of forestry residues per year into renewable baseload power while capturing around 1.1 million tons of carbon dioxide annually for permanent underground storage.
The facility is designed to generate approximately 100 MW of clean, dispatchable electricity, providing a renewable power source for the Louisiana grid while supporting the state's broader energy transition goals.
Emerson to Provide Plant-Wide Automation Technology
Emerson will deploy its DeltaV™ automation platform as a core part of the Louisiana Green Fuels control architecture.
The automation solution will be supported by a range of Emerson technologies covering process measurement, control, safety and reliability.
The technology portfolio includes:
DeltaV™ distributed control system (DCS)
Rosemount™ intelligent measurement instrumentation
Control valves
Shutdown valves
Pressure protection devices
Micro Motion™ flow and measurement technologies
Flexim™ flow measurement and gas analysis solutions
AspenTech™ data management and industrial software
Together, these technologies are intended to provide operators with high-quality process data and greater visibility across the integrated power generation and carbon capture processes.
For a facility combining biomass conversion, power generation and CCS, coordinated control across multiple process areas is particularly important.
Integrating Biomass Power Generation With Carbon Capture
Louisiana Green Fuels is designed around an integrated approach to renewable energy production and carbon removal.
Forestry residues that might otherwise decompose or be burned will be used as fuel for power generation. The resulting process is combined with carbon capture technology intended to prevent a significant portion of the associated carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.
The captured CO₂ is planned to be transported and permanently stored in a stable geological formation located nearly one mile underground.
This combination of biomass energy and carbon capture is commonly associated with bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).
The approach has attracted attention because it combines renewable biomass with carbon removal infrastructure. However, the overall climate benefit depends on factors such as biomass sourcing, transportation, process efficiency, carbon capture performance and the permanence of geological storage.
Why Automation Is Critical to the LGF Project
The integration of a biomass power plant and CCS system creates a complex process environment.
Operators need to monitor and control variables such as temperature, pressure, flow, combustion conditions, emissions and carbon dioxide handling across different sections of the facility.
A plant-wide automation platform can provide a centralized control environment for coordinating these processes.
Emerson's DeltaV DCS is intended to provide the control foundation, while measurement and instrumentation technologies can supply real-time process information.
Flow measurement is particularly important for applications involving biomass feedstock, steam, process gases and captured CO₂. Accurate measurement can support process control, mass balance calculations, equipment performance monitoring and operational efficiency.
Advanced Measurement and Process Visibility
Emerson's Rosemount, Micro Motion and Flexim technologies are expected to contribute to the measurement infrastructure supporting the facility.
Rosemount instruments are widely used for measuring process parameters such as pressure, temperature and flow.
Micro Motion technologies are used for precision flow and density measurement, while Flexim provides clamp-on ultrasonic flow measurement solutions that can be useful in applications where installing conventional inline flow meters may be difficult or disruptive.
For an integrated energy and CCS facility, reliable measurement provides the data required for control strategies, equipment monitoring and operational decision-making.
The resulting process information can also be integrated with industrial software and data-management systems to support higher-level analysis and optimization.
Data and Optimization With AspenTech Software
Emerson will also bring AspenTech™ software capabilities into the broader technology portfolio for the project.
Industrial data management and optimization technologies can help transform process information into actionable insights, supporting areas such as operational analysis, asset performance and process optimization.
This is increasingly important for energy projects that must balance production efficiency, emissions performance, equipment reliability and operational cost.
Rather than treating automation and data management as separate systems, the LGF project demonstrates how control platforms, instrumentation and industrial software can work together as part of a more integrated automation architecture.
Strategic Biofuels Sees Automation as a Key Project Component
Strategic Biofuels CEO Paul Schubert said the Louisiana Green Fuels project represents an important milestone for Caldwell Parish and Louisiana's future energy independence.
He also highlighted Emerson's experience in process automation, biomass power generation and carbon capture as important factors in the company's selection of Emerson for the project.
For Strategic Biofuels, the objective extends beyond developing a single renewable energy facility.
The company aims to establish a commercially viable and repeatable model for producing reliable energy while permanently removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Emerson Brings Automation and CCS Experience to the Project
According to Emerson Chief Sustainability Officer Mike Train, Strategic Biofuels is developing an alternative pathway toward a cleaner and more resilient energy system by converting waste biomass into electricity while permanently removing carbon.
Emerson's role combines automation technology with its experience supporting energy-transition infrastructure and CCS applications.
For a complex facility such as Louisiana Green Fuels, the automation system must support more than basic equipment control. It must help operators maintain stable production, coordinate multiple process units and manage the interaction between power generation and carbon capture systems.
The ability to integrate measurement, control, safety and industrial data technologies can therefore play an important role in achieving the plant's targeted operational performance.
A New Application for Industrial Automation in Energy Transition
The Louisiana Green Fuels project illustrates how industrial automation is expanding into emerging energy-transition applications.
Renewable energy projects increasingly require technologies traditionally associated with process industries, including:
Distributed control systems
Industrial instrumentation
Flow measurement
Pressure and temperature measurement
Automated valves
Safety and shutdown systems
Industrial data management
Process optimization
Asset reliability technologies
As renewable fuels, carbon capture and low-carbon power projects become more technically integrated, automation systems will play an increasingly important role in maintaining reliable and efficient operations.
What the Louisiana Green Fuels Project Means for Industrial Automation
The planned 100 MW Louisiana Green Fuels facility combines several technologies that require coordinated industrial control: biomass fuel handling, power generation, carbon capture and permanent CO₂ storage.
Emerson's involvement demonstrates the growing role of automation suppliers in the development of complex low-carbon energy infrastructure.
The project also highlights an important trend for the industrial automation market: energy-transition projects are creating new demand for DCS platforms, smart instrumentation, flow measurement, industrial software and process optimization technologies.
If successfully developed and operated, Louisiana Green Fuels could provide a commercial reference for combining renewable biomass power generation with carbon capture and permanent geological storage.
For automation engineers, system integrators and energy-sector equipment suppliers, the project is another example of how advanced process automation is becoming an essential technology for the next generation of industrial and energy infrastructure.
