Rivaterra tells Georgia committee its AI-made ‘‘Arcana Bio coal’’ can fit existing plants and cut emissions

Rivaterra CEO and co-founder Jude Davies told the Georgia House Natural Resources and Environment Committee that the company’s Arcana Bio coal, formulated by an AI optimization engine, is designed to use surplus forest biomass and plug into existing fuel infrastructure.

"We came up with a product called Arcana Bio coal," Davies said, saying the company chose Georgia for its timber resources and logistics. Joe Napier, Rivaterra’s chief technology officer and co-founder, told lawmakers the pellet is durable, water resistant and engineered to match energy-performance metrics of many coals used for power generation.

Davies and Napier said the company has completed a production run, submitted samples for third‑party testing, signed an agreement with a Southeast Georgia manufacturer and expects a pilot production run within weeks. They said they joined the ATDC Accelerate program and have filed two nonprovisional patents — one for their AI platform and one for material formulation.

Why it matters: Presenters framed the product as both an economic opportunity for Georgia’s timber sector — including an ability to repurpose idled mills — and as a partial climate solution compared with fossil fuels by keeping biomass in a higher‑value, lower‑emission form.

Lawmakers’ technical concerns dominated the question period. When a legislator asked how particulate emissions compare with coal, Napier said, "It's at least 50% less emissions by every metric we've measured," for co‑firing, and added that utility‑scale trials this quarter will produce third‑party data. He also said Rivaterra’s pellets have a high Pellet Durability Index (PDI) — "consistently scores 98 or higher" — and that the material displays hydrophobic properties when tested informally.

On economics, presenters said their internal models show strong unit economics (they cited a 55–60% unit economic figure and an expected profit margin of roughly 35–40%) and gave a three‑year revenue target of $150,000,000. They said export demand — especially in parts of Europe and Japan seeking renewable drop‑in fuels — is a key early market that can make domestic production attractive to Georgia manufacturers.

Multiple legislators asked whether existing closed mills could be retrofitted to produce the pellets; presenters said the product is intended to drop into existing pellet production lines and that some mills could be brought back online with modest changes. On water resistance, Napier said the company has performance tables comparing the product to wood pellets and coal and noted an informal demonstration that the pellet "did pretty well" after being placed in a cup of water.

What remains unresolved: Several technical claims — including the magnitude of emissions reductions, full utility‑scale performance, long‑term storage and large‑scale cost competitiveness in U.S. domestic markets — were described by presenters as pending verification from ongoing pilot and commercial trials. Rivaterra representatives repeatedly said third‑party testing and commercial pilot results would provide more definitive answers.

Next steps: Presenters invited committee members and other attendees to speak with them after the session; the company said it would continue pilot testing with utilities this quarter and expects more detailed third‑party results to follow. The committee did not take formal action at the hearing.