24-09-2024

Haffner Energy teams up with Bambbco to diversify sustainable biomass procurement

Haffner Energy and Bambbco, France’s leading bamboo provider, announce that they have signed a partnership. Both companies are based in France and share a common goal of improving the availability of biomass for energy applications, especially from crops grown on marginal land.

Biomass, the leading source of renewable energy in France and around the world, often faces conflicts of use. Diversifying sustainable sources of biomass that is free of conflicts of use, thanks to regenerative, resilient, and productive crops such as bamboo grown on marginal lands and barren grounds, is a strategic challenge. The contribution of such crops to decarbonization is going to be significant.

Haffner Energy has developed an innovative, patented biomass and organic waste thermolysis technology, backed by 30 years of experience. This technology produces renewable hydrogen and clean fuels for industry and mobility applications. In addition, it generates biocarbon (char or biochar), a natural carbon sink, and biogenic CO2.

Bambbco is a nature-based solutions company that uses several species of bamboo to produce renewable energy, sequester carbon, prevent soil erosion, re-establish the water cycle, promote biodiversity, and contribute to the biomass-to-energy circular economy. Bambbco is a laureate of France’s start-up booster program French Tech.

Bamboo produces up to four times as much biomass , as wood residues from a forest in standard conditions. In addition, bamboo displays remarkable characteristics such as being drought tolerant, requiring no chemical inputs, and capturing heavy metals and toxic chemical elements through its roots system. Those properties make it an ideal candidate for soil and ecosystem regeneration on marginal land, while simultaneously generating value.

“Europe is the only continent in the world where bamboo is not recognized yet for its many benefits, from regenerating marginal lands and natural ecosystems to providing a highly sustainable, renewable, and competitive alternative to wood and wood residues for countless applications,” points out Pierre-Alexandre Lemarquis, CEO of Bambbco. “I am excited about the forward-looking approach that Haffner Energy is taking with regard to biomass procurement. Together, we’ll be able to develop local, circular economy-based ecosystems for clean fuels production projects,” he adds.

“We are happy to engage with Bambbco and develop biomass-to-energy projects in locations that would otherwise not be suitable. Barren areas can be brought back to  life with robust energy crops and our technology,” says Marcella Franchi, Haffner Energy Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Sales. “We can’t wait to show visitors the new bamboo plantation at our new center in Marolles (Marne County, France). The plants can be used on location, among various feedstocks, to produce renewable syngas and hydrogen, and they will beautify the site.”

The signing of this partnership will enable Haffner Energy and Bambbco to offer a turnkey solution for the production of green energy, with guaranteed feedstock availability and cost all year round. It builds on Haffner Energy’s strategy to diversify sustainable biomass procurement, initiated earlier this year with the signing of a partnership with XanoGrass developer Hexas, in the United States.

The aggregated environmental virtues of those solutions are formidable:
- Securing biomass procurement.
- Capturing CO2 through photosynthesis.
- Sequestering CO2 in biocarbon (char or biochar) and biogenic CO2 through Haffner Energy’s solutions.
- Regenerating marginal lands and creating value thanks to specialty crops.
- Avoiding greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating fossil energy and replacing it by the ultimate renewable energy, energy from energy crops grown on marginal land.