Michigan Company Opens AI Powered Biomass Facility In Grand Rapids

Woodchuck, an AI-powered climate tech company focused on transforming wood waste into renewable energy, officially opened its flagship biomass processing facility in Grand Rapids, Mich. in early May. Governor Gretchen Whitmer joined local and state officials, clean energy advocates, and Grand Rapids business leaders in celebrating the launch of the nation’s first AI-driven wood waste-to-energy facility of its kind. The new facility combines advanced machine learning with localized waste diversion to turn construction and demolition wood waste into high-quality biomass for energy producers. In partnership with NorthStar Clean Energy, a CMS Energy Company, Alloy Partners, Beckett Industries, and The Right Place, Woodchuck is establishing a model that bridges environmental responsibility with economic opportunity. By using AI to sort, identify, and process usable materials, Woodchuck drastically increases efficiency and transparency in a sector long plagued by fragmentation and contamination challenges.

“Construction and demolition sites produce an enormous amount of recoverable wood, yet the majority of it still ends up in landfills,” says Todd Thomas, CEO, Woodchuck. “This facility changes that. Woodchuck transforms waste into value, reducing costs, reducing landfill usage, and unleashing an abundant energy future!”

In addition to servicing the construction industry, Woodchuck’s capabilities are already proving critical in emergency response and environmental recovery. Following the devastating ice storms that swept through northern Michigan earlier this month, Woodchuck has partnered with several counties to rapidly process fallen trees and wood debris—turning what would have been landfill waste or burn piles into clean biomass energy. The effort is helping communities recover faster, while reinforcing the value of localized circular economy solutions in the face of climate-driven weather events.

Latest news

Evergreen Engineering Celebrates 40th Anniversary 

Aug 21, 2025

Evergreen Engineering Celebrates 40th Anniversary Evergreen Engineering, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 with headquarters in Eugene, Ore., originally served mainly the forest products industries (wood products and pulp & paper) that used to be predominant in the...

read more

Scott Bax Joins Enviva As Executive VP & COO

Aug 1, 2025

Scott Bax Joins Enviva As Executive VP & COOAfter announcing its emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 6, 2024, 20 years after the company’s founding, Enviva has added Soctt Bax to its Executive Team, making him Executive Vice President and Chief Operating...

read more

Horizon Biofuels Explosion Kills Three

Aug 1, 2025

Horizon Biofuels Explosion Kills ThreeHorizon Biofuels, a wood waste processing plant that makes animal bedding and bagged wood pellets for domestic use in Fremont, Neb., suffered a catastrophic explosion that killed three in late July. After emergency crews battled...

read more

Find Us On Social

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Wood Bioenergy News Online hits the inboxes of subscribers in the wood-to-energy sectors.

Subscribe Now
Subscribe/Renew

Wood Bioenergy is published and delivered worldwide 6 times per year. Free to qualified readers in the U.S. Subscribers outside the U.S. are asked to pay a small fee.

Complete the Form
Advertise

Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative.

Contact Us