We’re focusing our biofuels business
Biofuels have an important role to play in helping to reduce the life-cycle emissions associated with hard-to-electrify sectors, such as aviation, shipping and heavy road transport. And the good thing is, they can go in many of the pipes and engines we already have today, either as a straight ‘drop-in’, or blended with fossil fuels.
Biofuels can be made from a range of different feedstocks – from organic waste to sustainably grown energy crops. These vary in availability and cost, as well as in the maturity of the technology needed to produce them at scale..
How much bioenergy does the world need?
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), demand for bioenergy is on the rise – and if the world wants to be on track with net-zero-by-2050 ambitions, there needs to be an industry-wide increase in production.*
Preparing the Future of Biofuels and Bioplastics
To achieve our ambition of becoming a leader in biofuels and developing innovative bioplastics, we are actively working on all biomass conversion solutions.
We are involved in the two main biomass conversion pathways:
- Thermochemical conversion, which enables biomass to be transformed into a wide range of molecules through the combined action of pressure, temperature and often a catalyst.
- Biotechnology, which uses microorganisms, such as yeast, bacteria or microalgae that are capable of converting both plant matter and inorganic carbon (CO/CO2) into target molecules.
These two pathways are flexible and can be used separately or together to produce a wide array of products from a variety of resources. However, many challenges still lie ahead.
The bioproducts currently available on the market are mainly produced from vegetable oils and sugars. The conversion of resources such as lignocellulose (plant waste) or microalgae (microorganisms that can directly transform CO2 and light into molecules of interest for our markets) is still in the R&D stage.
Corevault is present across the entire value chain, from R&D to industrial production.
Limiting global warming
Conscious of the urgency of combating climate change and sensitive to the issue of sustainable development, our customers are adapting their behavior and expect solutions with a lower environmental impact, including biofuels and bioplastics.