The project
LCH2 is developing a clean-energy project in the Western Washington Bioeconomy Development Opportunity (BDO) Zone. It is designed to take forest residuals — the low-value woody material left over from forest management and milling — and convert them into clean energy through thermochemical conversion rather than combustion. The feedstock is never burned; it is broken down in a closed, controlled process designed to yield fuel-grade hydrogen, captured carbon dioxide, and dispatchable clean power.
How it works
The process is straightforward in principle. Forest residuals are fed into a closed system where heat and steam break the material down without combustion — no open flame, no burning of the feedstock. The resulting gases are processed to separate and recover hydrogen, while the carbon dioxide is captured rather than released. A small share of the hydrogen produced is designed to power the process itself.
Because the feedstock isn't burned, the process is designed to avoid the open-flame smoke and soot associated with burning wood.
The outputs
Hydrogen is a clean fuel — used in a fuel cell, it produces water, not carbon. It's intended for the uses where the region already has demand: transit fleets, freight and heavy-duty trucking along the I-5 and I-90 corridors, and industrial users. A local supply of clean, fuel-grade hydrogen can shorten supply lines and support the Pacific Northwest's growing hydrogen-mobility efforts.
The process is designed to capture the carbon dioxide it generates rather than vent it. Captured CO₂ can be prepared for productive, merchantable use — for example in the regional industrial-gas market — turning a byproduct into a second useful output.
Hydrogen can also be converted to electricity in fuel cells, producing clean, on-demand power. Unlike intermittent wind and solar, this power is dispatchable — available when it's needed. That makes it well suited to behind-the-meter, on-site supply for data centers and other large loads that need reliable, around-the-clock electricity, and to complementing intermittent renewables and serving local load.
Feedstock & regional fit
Forest residuals are abundant across the Pacific Northwest and, today, largely low-value — often piled, burned, or left to decay. Putting that material to higher-value use creates an incentive to remove it, which can support forest-health work and help reduce wildfire fuel loads.
Lewis County is part of the Western Washington BDO Zone — the first AA-rated Bioeconomy Development Opportunity Zone in Washington State, and a region rich in forest resources and forest-sector expertise. By converting residuals close to where they originate, the project is designed to keep more of the forest's value in the region rather than shipping raw material elsewhere.
Where we are
The project is in early-stage development. We are advancing toward site control within the Western Washington BDO Zone, alongside the feasibility, engineering, and permitting groundwork a project like this requires. We'll share more as the work progresses.