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Established in 1995, Chempolis is well-known for its eco-friendly biorefining technologies and innovative biorefining solutions. Led by CEO Heli Antila, the Finnish-based Chempolis has spearheaded a dynamic revolution, enabling the production of various value-added products from renewable sources.
Chempolis’ formico® technologies allow for the sustainable production of bioethanol, high-quality pulps such as dissolving pulp, cellulosic sugars, biochemicals, and sulfur-free lignin from various lignocellulosic materials. Their processes are tailored to utilize different types of biomasses, including hardwood and softwood as well as non-wood and non-food sources like straw, bagasse, corn stover, EFB, and bamboo.
Primarily focused on developing biobased products for biorefinery clients and licensing biorefining technologies, Chempolis also excels in conceptualization, process engineering, and plant engineering. The organization’s dedication to creating efficient, eco-friendly solutions has resulted in over 100 patents.
The innovative concept is continuously developed and tested at an internal biorefinery in Oulu, Finland, which Chempolis planned, built, and operates. Located 200 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle, this facility serves as Chempolis’ main hub of innovation and provides extensive testing services to its partners and clients.
Nestled by the Oulu River amidst a dense pine forest and blueberry shrubs, the biorefinery park serves as a constant reminder to the team of its commitment to supporting the green economy for a cleaner future.
Integrating Sustainability and Environmental Responsibility
Developing biorefining technologies from labs to industrial biorefineries is time-consuming and requires significant investments. Despite these challenges, Chempolis has successfully navigated the journey, culminating in the upcoming launch of the first industrial biorefinery utilizing formico® technology in India.
Antila also believes this is the right time to accelerate the transition into the commercial phase and reap the benefits of industrialization in a changing market landscape. This entails enhancing material efficiency from feedstock to products, focusing on valuable bioproducts, and improving CAPEX and OPEX.
However, the team at Chempolis remains committed to sustainability, continually assessing its impact and refining processes in light of the commercial phase, particularly in today’s rapidly changing market dynamics. While sustainability has been integral to the organization’s approach, it still continues to explore new avenues to uphold environmental and social responsibility.
Staying Ahead of Industry Trends with Innovation and R&D
Being in the mainstream for over two decades, Heli Antila and her team understand the importance of staying in sync with changing times. So, they prioritize a culture of ongoing innovation and adopting advanced technologies in their business operations. Chempolis’ commitment to innovation, research, and development is epitomized by the organization’s state-of-the-art biorefinery, the primary innovation hub for Chempolis, situated in Oulu, Finland.
Ensuring Responsible and Sustainable Deployment of Biorefining Technologies
Antila believes collaborating with ecosystems along the way is key to success. Starting with R&D, it is essential to partner with academia and industry to explore optimal technological concepts and products, for instance. Long-term research and development as well as the opportunity to fund pilot facilities often necessitate government support, too.
At this stage, collaboration with customers is crucial to secure market fit for new sustainable biomaterials from our biorefineries. Sometimes products are drop-in solutions, but sometimes Chempolis’ customers also need their own development work. Luckily the company’s customers are committed to more sustainable biobased solutions, and Chempolis has several collaboration activities ongoing.
Antila also believes developing sustainable feedstock sourcing with local communities is extremely important for biorefinery owners. Sustainability in this context encompasses the overall financial, social, and environmental well-being of all parties involved.
Distinctive Strategy for Navigating Regulatory and Policy Landscapes
Chempolis formico® technology can be expressed with one word, flexibility, as it is extremely flexible with different feedstocks and products. As regulatory frameworks change and vary over time and in different countries, Chempolis can easily modify its biorefineries accordingly. For instance, the organization can choose to generate paper grade pulp or dissolving pulp, sugars, or ethanol from selectively fractionated cellulose.
Paving the Way for the Future Bio-Circular Economy
Chempolis can help to pave the way for the bio-circular economy of the future from two major perspectives:
They can use lignocellulosic feedstocks extensively; for instance, by promoting the use of agri-biomass worldwide, they can double biomass for high-value bioproducts. Moreover, their small biorefineries help the organization to gain easier access to agri-biomass biomass sources.
The fractionation process aims to produce high-value products from over 90 % of the feedstock. Compared to current mainstream techniques, material efficiency is significantly higher. Thus, more bioproducts are obtained from smaller amounts of feedstock.
Emerging Hurdles and Opportunities in the Green Tech Industry: Heli Antila’s Take
Chempolis was established nearly 30 years ago, but now the first-of-its-kind industrial plant with formico® technology is truly under construction. Significant obstacles facing Chempolis and the green tech sector at large are:
Support and financing mechanisms and a risk-taking appetite for first-of-a-kind (FOAK) industrial plants are missing or too low. R&D, laboratory tests, and piloting only take the concept to a certain level. As the team at Chempolis can prove the technologies on an industrial scale, they acknowledge that there will be unpredictability and learned lessons at that point.
The fossil fuel economy often overlooks its negative impacts on people and the environment, as these externalities aren’t factored into prices. If these costs were considered, sustainable solutions would likely be more widely adopted. However, Antila sees regulatory trends as positive, facilitating the adoption of sustainable alternatives.
Overall, Heli Antila currently sees more opportunities than obstacles.
Future Prospects to Thrive For
Chempolis is moving quickly towards becoming a leader in biorefining technologies. The objective with its formico® technology is industrialization through improvements in OPEX and CAPEX. On the product side, the team plans to continue its product development for all fractions. The customer need is there, and both end customers and the regulatory framework support their solutions. Only by enabling industrial biorefineries, the company can have sizable impacts, including:
The transition from fossil materials and fuels to biobased materials and fuels at scale — for all its products. Life Cycle Assessment is superior to alternatives.
Jobs in the growing, sourcing, processing, and transportation of biomass feedstock for rural communities in the area.
One biorefinery can already have a CO2 reduction impact of between 500 and 800 kilotons per year.
Upcoming Projects and Innovations: A Glance
The outlook for scaling the technology appears highly promising, with around ten projects underway across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Three of these projects are at different stages of development: construction is ongoing for one (ABRPL) in India, another is in the development phase with NTPC, and a third is in development with NordFuel in Finland.
Antila and her team are incredibly proud and excited about the range of products they can produce. They view this as just the beginning of their journey, with vast potential to produce a range of biobased products and replace fossil alternatives.
