Agenda

Agenda Note:

Note: Presentation Titles Highlighted in Green contain a link to the respective presentation abstract and speaker bio.

Monday, August 11, 2025

2:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Registration Open

2:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Exhibitor Set up - Mission Bay Ballroom

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Welcome Reception - Mission Bay Ballroom Terrace

Tuesday, August 12, 2025

7:15 am – 7:00 pm

Registration Open

7:15 am – 8:00 am

Continental Breakfast: Exhibit Hall

8:00 am - 10:00 am

Opening Session

Welcome: Eugene (Gene) Jones, Executive Director, Southern Waste Information eXchange, Inc.

Changing Landscape of Biomass Conversion Projects Under New Federal Administration

Scott Vanderau, Partner, Energy Transaction Advisors

Scale-up and Demonstration of Waste Conversion Technologies

Eloy Flores, III, Southwest Research Institute

Transforming Waste, Removing Carbon and Creating Value with FastOx Gasification

Mike Hart, CEO, Sierra Energy

10:00 am - 10:30 am

Break: Exhibit Hall

10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Session I:

Blue Blue Capitalization: Increasing Value Through Sustainability

Dr. Andrea Neal, Ph.D., President & Board Member, Blue Capital, LLC

Trends and Perspectives in Bioresource Valorization - Pathways, Insights, Economics, and Barriers in Commercialization

Michael Long, Long Thermochemical

Los Angeles County’s SB 1383 Infrastructure and Procurement Strategy

Kawsar Vazifdar, Los Angeles County Public Works

12:00 pm – 1:30 pm

Lunch (Provided)

1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

Session II:

Upcycling of Waste Plastics into Valuable Low Carbon Fuels via Plasma Synthesis Reforming

Jim Henderson, Heartland

The Challenges in Solving One of the Two Biggest Cost Drivers of Advanced Recycling – Feedstock Acquisition and Preparation

Kevin DeWhitt, Founder/Chief Executive Officer PDO Technologies, Inc.

3:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Break: Exhibit Hall

3:30 pm – 5:00 pm

Session III:
SWANA Waste to Energy Session

5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Reception: Exhibit Hall

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

7:45 am – 12:00 pm

Registration Open

7:45 am – 8:30 am

Continental Breakfast: Exhibit Hall

8:30 am – 10:00 am

Session IV:

Biomass Conversion Technologies: An Overview of Opportunities and Obstacles

Richard Olliver, Partner and Scott Vanderau, Partner, Energy Transaction Advisors, LLC (ETA) and Dr. Andrea Neal, Ph.D., President & Board Member, Blue Capital, LLC

10:00 am – 10:30 am

Break: Exhibit Hall

10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Session V:

Techno-economic Analysis of Biogas Upgrading via Microbial Electro Synthesis

Dr. Yogesh C. Rotliwala, Principal, Gujarat Technological University

12:00 pm

Adjourn

10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Exhibitor Breakdown