In a world yearning for more sustainable alternatives to petroleum, start-up Vertoro is writing a new chapter. The start-up, based at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, will make other chemical and material applications in addition to producing sustainable marine fuel. The company recently secured a €1,228,665 grant from the European Just Transition Fund. Michael Boot, co-founder and ceo of Vertoro, told Innovation Origins what they plan to do with the money.
- Vertoro makes renewable fuel for shipping.
- With the grant, they can also start focusing on other applications of the petroleum substitute.
Vertoro’s organic oil
Vertoro is a spin-off resulting from a public-private partnership between Brightlands Chemelot Campus, DSM, Chemelot InSciTe, Maastricht University (UM) and Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). The company produces liquid lignin from sustainably obtained wood and agricultural residues (e.g. sawdust) using a patented thermochemical process. Like fossil oil, liquid lignin can serve as a basis for fuel, chemical and material applications.
Congratulations again on winning the grant!
“Thank you, I have the cheque here in front of me. We are more than happy with it.”
How is Vertoro doing?
“Things are going very well. We have achieved a scale-up of no less than a thousand times with our demonstration plant in Geleen. We produce one kilotonne of lignin oil annually, which can be used as marine fuel.”
What are you going to do with the grant?
“We can already turn our oil into fuel for shipping, but we can first turn it into other interesting molecules. We are going to do that through an innovative separation process. The molecules we produce can then be used by other companies for other (material) applications, among others. Think, for instance, of a vanilla-like molecule that can serve as a flavouring. Thanks to the grant, we can start this process.”
What challenges do you expect to face in the application of this new technology?
“A lot of challenges. For instance, we have to make sure that the biomass we use does not stick to anything or accumulate anywhere in the reactor. It has to react optimally with the solvent (sustainable methanol or ethanol) we use in our process to produce the lignin oil. We will be looking at how to make that process run as smoothly as possible in the near future.”
What are you most proud of so far?
“In 2021, we managed to get MAERSK, the second largest shipping company in the world, on board as an investor. That is something we are most proud of, because it is a confirmation from the market that we are relevant to the industry.”
What will you focus on in the coming years?
“We expect the first barrels of oil to roll off the production line in Geleen by the end of this year. But there are many more exciting things to come. We will focus on building our first commercial plant in Rotterdam. This should be about ten times larger. So there is definitely plenty of work to do.”
