LOCOAL Deploys First Commercial Waste-to-Energy Unit, Signaling Shift in Renewable Infrastructure

The Building Texas Show podcast released a milestone episode featuring Miles M. Murray, Founder and CEO of LOCOAL, discussing the company's first commercial full-scale waste-to-energy unit installation near Houston. This third appearance on the show captures LOCOAL's evolution from idea stage to commercial deployment, with the system representing a new category of mobile modular bioenergy infrastructure designed to make landfills obsolete.

Murray explained how LOCOAL's patented 50-foot system utilizes thermal decomposition, gas filtration, and bio-oil reclamation to convert wood waste, pallet tailings, storm debris, forestry byproducts, and tires into clean power and sequestered carbon while producing less than 1% ash. The first commercial pilot is operating at 4840 Solutions, the largest pallet recycler in the country, eliminating costly transportation and landfill disposal while producing usable commodities. "This world continues to compile massive amounts of underutilized resources we call 'trash,'" Murray said during the interview. "But there's enormous value inside that waste stream. We've built a system that goes to the source of the problem and turns what was once a cost into a revenue-generating feedstock."

The technology addresses growing wildfire mitigation urgency in Texas, where Central Texas is 88% more likely to experience wildfire conditions compared to national averages. LOCOAL offers cities, counties, and landowners a measurable way to reduce combustible biomass accumulation while generating market-grade energy and carbon. Murray outlined how agricultural operations, concrete manufacturers, steel producers, filtration companies, and battery researchers are increasingly turning to high-purity biochar as a critical input for next-generation materials.

With over $250 million in letters of intent and $50 million in strategic commitments through Curtis Stout Power, LOCOAL is scaling production and preparing for national deployment. The company's newly issued U.S. patent, with protections through 2044, positions it as a category-defining leader in decentralized energy and carbon-negative infrastructure. "2026 is the breakout year," Murray said. "We're moving from commercial pilots to full market deployment with buyers and operators across the country. What once was waste will now become a powerful part of the American energy and carbon economy."