Woodchuck, a climate impact startup focused on transforming waste to energy with AI, has announced it is developing its first-of-its-kind AI innovation environment & biomass processing facility at its new global headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Woodchuck.AI was developed in partnership with NorthStar Clean Energy, a CMS Energy company, and High Alpha Innovation, to improve the biomass supply chain nationally.
The organisation’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, according to the organisation.
Woodchuck said it tackles both waste reduction and renewable energy needs through its innovative AI platform.
The platform utilises advanced deep learning image recognition to identify and process wood waste.
Initially, the model is trained with captured images, allowing the AI to accurately recognise various types of wood and other materials.
The platform utilises generative AI to produce 3D 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, according to the company.
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 has diverted more than 100 tons of CO2, produced 500 million BTUs of green energy, and achieved a 45% average monthly revenue growth, it said.
NorthStar Clean Energy, Genesee Power Station, & Mid-Michigan Recycling, began a trial programme with WoodChuck AI in March of 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, Michigan.
Once processed this material was delivered to the Genesee Power Station in Flint Michigan as a fuel to produce clean biomass energy for residents in eastern Michigan.
This collaboration underscores the Woodchuck platform’s potential to drive significant environmental benefits nationally while contributing to the green energy grid, added the organisation.
“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,” said Todd Thomas, founder and CEO of Woodchuck.ai.
“With this funding, we will accelerate the development of our AI platform, helping contractors & manufacturers achieve their sustainability goals while contributing to the green energy grid. The future of the bioenergy depends on reliable sustainable sources of biomass.”
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