Monolith Ventures — Energy runs on patented pyrolysis technology that converts Biomass feedstock — wood, agricultural byproducts and more — into carbon and activated charcoal for industrial applications, plus synthetic gas and energy.
The Advanced Pyrolysis System (APS) cleanly converts waste streams that would otherwise be discarded into products industry uses — and, in Colusa, California, into behind-the-meter power for AI compute.
Advanced Pyrolysis System — Biomass in, carbon and energy out
Waste to Energy
Biomass Pyrolysis Waste to Energy Carbon Char Activated Charcoal Synthetic Gas Advanced Pyrolysis System Biomass Feedstock Colusa · AI Green Biomass Pyrolysis Waste to Energy Carbon Char Activated Charcoal Synthetic Gas Advanced Pyrolysis System Biomass Feedstock Colusa · AI Green
What We Do
Turning Biomass waste into energy.
Monolith Ventures — Energy specializes in turning Biomass waste into energy through a process called pyrolysis.
At the center is the Advanced Pyrolysis System (APS) — a patented waste-to-energy technology, developed and tested over more than 15 years in the US. Heated in a controlled, oxygen-limited environment, Biomass feedstock breaks down cleanly instead of burning.
The result is a set of useful outputs: carbon char — including activated charcoal grades for industrial applications — synthetic gas, and energy. Waste streams become inputs; inputs become products.
Carbon CharSolid carbon from Biomass — including activated charcoal for industrial use.
Synthetic GasGas released by pyrolysis, captured as a usable energy stream.
Energy OutPower from waste — in Colusa, delivered behind the meter to the campus.
Feedstock — wood and agricultural Biomass, stockpiled and ready for conversion.
APS Technology
One system. Many feedstocks.
The Advanced Pyrolysis System is a patented waste-to-energy (WTE) technology, developed and tested over more than 15 years in the US — built to take a wide variety of feedstock materials and cleanly convert them to carbon char and synthetic gas.
01
Feedstock in
Biomass and waste materials — from wood and agricultural byproducts to municipal, medical and other streams — are prepared and fed into the system.
02
Pyrolysis conversion
Inside the APS, heat breaks the material down without open burning — a clean conversion rather than incineration.
03
Carbon, gas & energy out
The system yields carbon char and synthetic gas — carbon and activated charcoal for industrial applications, and gas and energy streams put to work.
Feedstocks the APS can convert
A wide range of materials can be cleanly converted to carbon char and synthetic gas — including, but not limited to, the streams listed here.
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
Agricultural Waste
Medical Waste
Wood
Tires
Sludge
Other Biomass & Waste Materials
Explore
Go deeper.
The technology, the story on screen, and the information investors ask for — the three doors into Monolith Ventures — Energy.
01
APS Technology
Our Advanced Pyrolysis System (APS) is a patented waste-to-energy technology, developed and tested over a period of more than 15 years in the US — converting Biomass feedstock into carbon char and synthetic gas.
Watch informative, engaging content on Biomass energy production, conversion processes, environmental solutions, and real-world applications of the APS waste conversion technology.
Information to help investors better understand who we are and what we do — the benefits of the technology, process information, company information, and FAQs.
A fully permitted, operating power plant in Carson, California — built as a combined-cycle co-generation facility, and positioned today as a behind-the-meter hybrid energy host for a tethered load such as a data center.
The Carson plant is a 48 MW combined-cycle power plant — a GE LM6000PC aeroderivative gas turbine paired with a steam turbine — fully permitted and operating.
It has been in operation since 1989 as a PURPA co-generation qualifying facility. The plant was built for 24/7 baseload power; since 2013 it has run as a peaker plant, a mode that has preserved the asset — the turbine has been rebuilt to zero-hour and the plant carries low run hours.
Under PURPA, that history matters for what comes next: the plant can deliver both electricity and thermal energy directly to a tethered host behind the meter — with utility backup power available if the plant trips, so the host load stays served.
Carson Hybrid Energy — the operating 48 MW combined-cycle plant in Carson, California.
68 MWTotal capacity with the approved +20 MW expansion
1989In operation since — as a PURPA co-generation qualifying facility
24/7 · 365Standby, ready-to-run operation, every day of the year
Behind-the-meter tethering
Under PURPA, the plant can tether directly to a host such as a data center, delivering electricity and thermal energy behind the meter — with utility backup power if the plant trips.
Thermal energy & cooling
Excess steam from co-generation is available to the host — about 470 tons of cooling today via absorption chillers, expandable to ~824 tons.
Battery storage
A 1 MW / 3 MWh zinc-bromide battery energy storage system is being installed behind the meter — bringing black-start capability (self-start during a grid blackout) and lower demand charges.
Approved expansion
An approved +20 MW expansion, to 68 MW total: 7 MW of LM6000 wet compression, a 9.5 MW LM1500 simple-cycle gas turbine approved for construction, and 3.5 MW of additional battery storage.
Markets served
The plant sells electricity into the CAISO wholesale market and provides Resource Adequacy capacity — operating generation that participates in California's grid markets today.
Licensed & compliant
Licensed and in good standing with 22 local, state and federal agencies — including FERC, CAISO and SCAQMD — and held standby, ready to run 24/7, 365 days a year.
Inside the Plant
The LM6000PC gas turbine
At the heart of Carson is a General Electric LM6000PC aeroderivative gas turbine — a power-plant engine derived from aviation, chosen for the combination a hybrid host needs most: high efficiency, fast response, and a long remaining service life. Here is how the plant is configured, and what the machine can do.
How Carson is configured
The LM6000PC prime mover drives an Electric Machinery brushless synchronous generator rated 47,765 kVA. Exhaust heat is recovered on the steam side by a Shin Nippon steam turbine rated 10,500 kW, coupled to a 10,500 kW Shinko brushless generator.
Together, gas turbine + steam cycle produce 48 MW combined at full power — matching the plant’s CPUC Net Qualifying Capacity (NQC) of 48 MW.
A rebuilt, low-hour asset
The LM6000PC was installed in 2003 as an upgrade from the plant’s original LM5000. In 2013, GE’s Houston depot rebuilt it to zero-hour — as-new — condition.
Since then it has accumulated only ~17,000 operating hours on a machine capable of 100,000 hours — most of its service life remains. Peaker duty explains the number: under 600 hrs/yr in recent years, against 8,760 hrs/yr for baseload. The asset was conserved, not worn out.
~45 MWLM6000PC simple-cycle rating (GE Vernova family data)
48 MWCombined-cycle output at Carson — and its CPUC Net Qualifying Capacity
47,765 kVAElectric Machinery brushless synchronous generator driven by the turbine
10,500 kWShin Nippon steam turbine + Shinko generator on the steam side
8,549 Btu/kWhHeat rate — among the most fuel-efficient simple-cycle turbines in its class
~10 minTo full power from start — about 5 minutes on fast-start variants
~17,000 hrsRun since the 2013 zero-hour rebuild — on a 100,000-hour-capable machine
Aeroderivative by design
The LM6000 family is derived from the CF6-80C2 aircraft engine — the widebody airliner engine family. Its two-shaft aeroderivative design brings aviation-grade engineering to the plant floor: built for fast, flexible, reliable power, in a compact package that is straightforward to service and swap.
Fast start, fast ramping
The turbine reaches full power in about 10 minutes and ramps in the ~50 MW/min class. That flexibility suits it to peaking, dispatch and load-following — following a host’s demand as it moves — as well as sustained baseload running when called on.
Combined cycle & co-generation steam
Running in combined cycle lifts efficiency above 56%, and co-generation puts the steam to work twice: 8,964 lb/hour of excess steam is available to a tethered host — about 470 tons of cooling via absorption chillers at minimal operating cost — expandable to 15,660 lb/hour / ~824 tons.
Emissions control
The PC model uses a water-injected single annular combustor for NOx control — water injection in the combustion process suppresses the temperatures at which nitrogen oxides form, helping the plant meet California’s strict air-quality requirements.
Long service intervals
The PC is built for long runs between interventions: roughly 16,000-hour hot-section intervals and ~48,000-hour major overhaul intervals. Combined with Carson’s low post-rebuild hours, that means long stretches of available operation before major work is due.
Room to grow
Wet compression adds 7 MW to the LM6000 — power augmentation that forms part of Carson’s approved +20 MW expansion to 68 MW. The turbine at the center of the plant has a permitted path to more output on the same site.
Fuel: the plant runs on natural gas supplied under contract, fed by a dedicated 6-inch SoCalGas main at ~450 psi. Sources: Carson configuration, hours, steam and expansion figures are from the plant’s own overview; LM6000 family ratings, efficiency, start and service-interval figures are GE Vernova’s published data for the LM6000 / LM6000PC.
Capabilities
What Monolith can provide.
Operating generation, Biomass waste-to-energy, storage and thermal energy — combined behind the meter, permitted, and run as one hybrid energy platform.
Behind-the-meter hybrid power
Operating generation tethered directly to your facility — electricity delivered behind the meter, with utility backup, instead of relying on the grid alone.
Biomass waste-to-energy
Patented APS pyrolysis converting Biomass feedstock — wood, agricultural byproducts and other waste streams — into energy, carbon char and synthetic gas.
Battery energy storage
Behind-the-meter battery storage for black start, demand management and resilience — self-starting through a grid blackout and smoothing the load the grid sees.
Thermal energy & cooling
Co-generation steam put to work for the host — excess thermal energy driving absorption cooling, so one plant serves both the power and cooling load.
Permitted capacity growth
Approved expansion pathways at operating plants — added generation and storage layered onto an already-permitted, already-running site.
Market participation
Wholesale electricity and Resource Adequacy capacity — generation that can serve a tethered host and participate in California's CAISO markets.
Fully licensed operations
Permitting and agency compliance handled end to end — licensed and in good standing across local, state and federal agencies, with plants held standby and ready to run around the clock.
Colusa, California
Where Biomass meets compute.
In Colusa, California, this Biomass technology does double duty. The campus pairs Biomass conversion with behind-the-meter power for Monolith Titan's AI data halls — the Biomass plant sits on site, and its power serves the campus load directly.
It is the group's clearest expression of waste to energy: Biomass in, green power out — behind the meter, where the compute actually runs.
AI Green · Biomass BTM — the Colusa campus runs on Biomass behind-the-meter power
On-site Biomass plant at the Niagara Ave campus in Colusa
City of Colusa BTM PPA framework — power contracted to serve the campus load directly
Monolith Titan Data Centers
AI Green in Colusa. Powered by Biomass.
The Colusa campus is the anchor of Monolith Titan Data Centers — high-density AI halls powered behind the meter by the on-site Biomass plant.
Patented Advanced Pyrolysis Systems turning Biomass waste into carbon, activated charcoal, synthetic gas and energy — and powering the AI Green Biomass BTM campus in Colusa. That is Monolith Ventures — Energy, part of the Monolith Ventures group.
