About

A higher-value use for forest residuals
The Lewis County Hydrogen Alliance (LCH2) is a Washington nonprofit that coordinates the development of clean-energy projects in Lewis County. Our focus is converting locally sourced forestry residuals — the woody material left over from forest management and milling — into clean energy through thermochemical conversion rather than combustion. The feedstock is not burned; it is broken down in a closed process designed to yield three outputs:

Fuel-grade hydrogen
Intended as a clean fuel for transit fleets, freight, and industrial users across the region.

Captured carbon dioxide
The process is designed to capture CO₂ and prepare it for productive, merchantable use.

Dispatchable clean power
Clean, on-demand electricity designed to serve on-site loads — including data centers — and to complement intermittent renewables.

Building on a region in transition
Lewis County sits at the center of one of Washington's defining energy transitions. The retirement of coal-fired power generation at the TransAlta Centralia plant reshaped the region's economy and energy landscape.

Lewis County is also part of the Western Washington Bioeconomy Development Opportunity (BDO) Zone — the first AA-rated BDO Zone in Washington State, and a region rich in forest resources and forest-sector expertise. LCH2 was formed to build on those strengths: by turning low-value wood residuals into clean energy, we aim to keep more of the forest's value at home, support healthier forests, and help grow durable, family-wage clean-energy work.

We are advancing toward site control within the Western Washington BDO Zone as part of our early-stage development work.

Clean, dispatchable power for data centers
Demand for reliable, around-the-clock electricity is growing fast — and data centers increasingly need clean power generated close to where it's used. The same process that turns forest residuals into hydrogen is designed to provide dispatchable, on-site power: electricity that can serve loads directly, behind the meter, and complement intermittent renewables.

That puts LCH2 at the intersection of two regional priorities — a clean-energy transition rooted in the forest sector, and the rising need for reliable, low-carbon power to support new industry in the Pacific Northwest.

Clean energy from forest residuals
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.