German bioenergy company Verbio has released what it says is the world’s first large-scale ethenolysis plant based on rapeseed methyl ester, indicating a major expansion from biofuels into renewable chemicals.
Around €100 million investment at Verbio’s Bitterfeld site will manufactures up to 60,000 tons of bio-based chemicals a year, generating around 50 new jobs and expanding the company’s workforce at the site to approximately 130.
The plant will transform rapeseed methyl ester into renewable carbon compounds that can replace fossil-based feedstocks in products which includes lubricants, detergents, cleansing products and plastics.
The move gives Verbio a new market for rapeseed methyl ester, which it already manufactures big quantities for biodiesel. Rather than of using the material entirely as an energy source, the company is now advancing it further up the value chain into higher-value chemical products.
“With this latest manufacturing plant we’re supplementing our biorefinery with a further stage within the value chain, leveraging on an established raw material base,” mention Verbio CEO Claus Sauter.
“By processing European rapeseed oil, we are reinforcing regional agriculture and decreasing our dependence on global supply chains that are vulnerable to disruption. In addition to sustainability considerations, that is of key significance for Germany as a business location.”
Verbio is bringing the plant online as Europe’s chemical industry confronts escalating pressure from high manufacturing costs, international competition and the need to move away from fossil-based raw materials.
Carbon stays important to chemical production, making the development of scalable and commercially feasible renewable carbon sources a critical challenge.
Verbio’s answer is a latest manufacturing route for 2 specialty chemicals— 1-decene and 9-DAME — made from rapeseed-based feedstock instead of crude oil.
German Federal Minister for Research, Technology and Space Dorothee Bär defined the venture as a sign of the German chemical industry’s ability to innovate.
“To know what isn’t yet known by anyone else. And then to do what no one else is doing. Verbio shows how this is carried out; you’re showing this with your new manufacturing plant for bio-based speciality chemicals.
“Your lubricants, plastics and detergents aren’t produced from crude oil, however from biomass together with rapeseed. Wow, what a sensation! […] With the commissioning of the new manufacturing plant, you’re sending out a very strong message at a time when the price of crude oil is on everyone’s lips and we are realising just how reliant we actually are.
You have a solution for that. In doing so, you also are introducing in a new era at the Bitterfeld site, with its long industrial heritage.”
Michael Carus, Senior Advisor and shareholder of the nova-Institute, mention that Europe can’t compete indefinitely on the basis of cheap fossil feedstocks.
“In the long run, Europe will not be able of compete with other regions of the world on the basis of cheap-fossil raw materials. We see an opportunity to create new value by leveraging renewable carbon.” It is vital that such solutions do not stay at pilot scale, however are scaled up for industrial manufacturing.
“The plant in Bitterfeld shows the potential of bio-based raw materials for competitive and more resilient chemical manufacturing in Europe.”
The plant’s technology is based on ethenolysis, a form of olefin metathesis. Catalysts developed by Verbio’s Hungarian subsidiary, XiMo, allow the focused conversion of carbon compounds in rapeseed methyl ester into molecules used in chemical applications.
The underlying chemistry has a Nobel Prize pedigree. Yves Chauvin, Robert H. Grubbs and Richard R. Schrock attained the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for pioneering work on olefin metathesis.
For Schrock, observing the technology attain industrial scale was especially significant.
“It is truly rewarding to see today how our research being applied in industrial practice.” The fact that olefin metathesis is now being used on this scale is a moving moment for me.”
Verbio says the plant signifies the transition of the technology from research and development into industrial-scale production.
The commissioning does not mean the plant will instantly operate at full capacity. Verbio anticipates manufacturing to boost gradually as clients qualify the new chemical building blocks for specific applications.
“We have made an upfront investment of just under EUR 100-million to offer the renewable molecules required for the transformation. It is now as much as the chemical industry to make this new choice. But clients can also make contributions to assist locally produced bio-based products gain a foothold in the market by their purchasing decisions,” explains Claus Sauter.
Verbio mentions it has already obtained enquiries from customers across Europe, as well as North and South America and Asia.
The company views similarly room for expansion as demand increases, with potential to scale its technology, raw-material supply and manufacturing ability.
“We are transforming innovations into applications, reinforcing biomass as a raw material base for a chemical industry fit for the further, and forming additional value at an established German chemical-industry site,” mention Claus Sauter.
The company also anticipates its Bitterfeld and Zörbig operations to stay long-term anchors for regional bioeconomy and industrial activity.
“Our sites in Zörbig and Bitterfeld are established for the long term. Here, we need to similarly promote the bioeconomy and regional value creation. The proximity to local farms, which deliver us with raw materials, and the present industrial infrastructure are main location advantages for us,” emphasises Sauter.
With the Bitterfeld plant now operational, Verbio is betting that rapeseed can become to be more than a source of renewable fuel — and that renewable carbon can carve out a larger role in Europe’s chemical industry.
