Woodchuck, a climate impact startup transforming waste to energy with the power of AI, is developing what it calls a first of its kind AI innovation environment and biomass processing facility at its new global headquarters in Grand Rapids.
The company is partnering with Beckett Industries, The Right Place, High Alpha Innovation, and NorthStar Clean Energy, which are helping with funding.
“Woodchuck was founded with the goal to empower contractors, manufacturers, and biomass energy producers by streamlining wood waste diversion and biomass processing. We are committed to transforming waste into valuable resources, reducing landfill usage, and providing a steady, sustainable supply of biomass,” says Todd Thomas, founder and CEO of Woodchuck.ai.
“With this funding, we will accelerate the development of our AI platform, helping contractors and manufacturers achieve their sustainability goals while contributing to the green energy grid. The future of the bioenergy depends on reliable sustainable sources of biomass.”
Woodchuck.ai was developed in partnership with NorthStar Clean Energy and High Alpha Innovation, to improve the biomass supply chain nationally. Woodchuck’s proprietary AI platform empowers critical waste reduction and sustainability challenges by efficiently diverting wood out of waste streams to produce a consistent reliable source of biomass.
As decarbonization initiatives scale, access to high-quality renewable feedstock will be crucial in achieving net-zero targets across industries. Woodchuck says it’s at the forefront of this effort, ensuring that the biomass industry has a reliable and sustainable source of high-quality feedstock.
“Chuck represents a transformative platform at the intersection of sustainability and energy innovation,” says Danny Beckett of Beckett Industries. “Their innovative approach not only addresses critical environmental challenges but also provides a scalable solution that transforms waste into renewable energy or recycled content.
“This site in Grand Rapids will begin with wood waste and our vision is to leverage the technology with other verticals, setting a new standard for tech-enabled sustainability. We’re excited to partner with them as they redefine the future of renewable energy and waste diversion.”
Global energy demand is expected to double by 2050, with energy leaders like NorthStar Clean Energy turning to a mix of solar, wind, and biomass to meet these needs. While solar and wind are excellent options, they suffer from intermittency and location dependency. Biomass provides energy producers a consistent reliable baseload energy production, making it a favored option for renewable energy.
Simultaneously, construction and manufacturing companies are facing a critical need to reduce waste and dependency on landfills. The U.S. construction industry alone sent over 41 million tons of wood to landfills last year, a staggering waste of potential energy resources.
Woodchuck effectively tackles both waste reduction and renewable energy needs through its AI platform. The platform utilizes advanced deep learning image recognition to identify and process wood waste. Initially, the model is trained with captured images, allowing the AI to accurately recognize various types of wood and other materials.
The platform utilizes generative AI to produce 3-D models of wood and other materials to accelerate the development of woodchuck’s proprietary image recognition algorithms; leveraging generative AI to accelerate deep learning AI.
By integrating generative AI into the deep learning models, WoodChuck.ai is not just improving image recognition accuracy — it’s redefining the boundaries of what’s possible in automated waste management. This technology enables Woodchuck to train the models faster and more efficiently, turning real-time data into actionable insights at unprecedented speeds.
The Woodchuck.ai platform automatically schedules wood waste pickups, tracks diversion rates, and produces detailed custom sustainability reports. By converting wood waste into biomass, Woodchuck creates a reliable supply chain for bioenergy producers and contributes to a cleaner environment.
In its first six months, Woodchuck already has diverted more than 100 tons of CO2, produced 500 million BTUs of green energy, and achieved a 45 percent average monthly revenue growth. The platform is revolutionizing sustainability tracking, reporting, and validation, enabling businesses to minimize their environmental impact while contributing to the green energy grid.
NorthStar Clean Energy, Genesee Power Station, and Mid-Michigan Recycling began a trial program with WoodChuck.ai in March 2024. As a result of this partnership, NorthStar has received 76.5 tons of waste wood products at their processing facilities in Livonia and Macomb Township.
Once processed, this material was delivered to the Genesee Power Station in Flint as a fuel to produce clean biomass energy for residents in east Michigan. This collaboration underscores the Woodchuck platform’s potential to drive significant environmental benefits nationally while contributing to the green energy grid.
“We believe that biomass with carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS) has a critical role to play in decarbonizing the grid and creating a sustainable energy system,” says Brian Hartmann, president of NorthStar Clean Energy. “With BECCS, the quality of the biomass supply is critical to ensuring you are making a real impact for the planet. Woodchuck’s one of a kind AI capabilities are a true differentiator for us because they ensure we are focused on the right biomass supply.”
Woodchuck plans to scale its platform and expand its operations, aiming to divert even more waste from landfills and generate sustainable energy at a national scale. As decarbonization efforts intensify, the need for sustainable biomass sources will only grow, and Woodchuck says it’s well-positioned to lead the charge.
The post Woodchuck in Grand Rapids Uses AI to Advance Waste to Energy for Multiple Industries appeared first on DBusiness Magazine .
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