Danish Pyrolysis & Biochar Forum 2024

In an innovative collaboration to strengthen the Danish pyrolysis industry, Roskilde University has joined forces with Energy Cluster Denmark, Food & Bio Cluster, and Clean – the Danish Water and Environment Cluster, to create Denmark’s most important event on pyrolysis innovation.

This initiative will bring together leading Danish companies, researchers, and public actors for an inspiring day dedicated to exploring and discussing the current status and future potential of pyrolysis technology in Denmark.

Program

9.00 – Arrival and coffee

• We will convene in the Grand Auditorium building 00 (see map: https://link.mazemap.com/5Xkxiofs)

9.30 – Opening of the Forum

• Introduction and welcome by Tobias Pape Thomsen, associate professor RUC IMT
• Setting the scene with the presentation: “Danish perspectives and international perceptions on the promises of Biochar”. By Tobias Pape Thomsen & Kathleen Draper from the US Biochar Initiative (USBI)

10.15 – Presentations from Dansih Pyrolysis companies

• Stiesdal Skyclean – by Jesper Noes, R&D Manager
• Frichs Pyrolysis – by Søren Bruun
• Dall Energy – by Rasmus Glar Nielsen
• Aquagreen – by Henning Schmidt-Petersen, CCO
• Organic Fuel Tech – by Jens Henrik Haahr, CEO 
• Mash Makes (TBC)

11.45 – Lunch

During lunch, a poster session and exhibition will take place, offering you the opportunity to explore current innovation projects and connect with new contacts.

If you would like to showcase a project, technology, or display a roll-up or new product for your company, please reach out to Tobias Pape Thomsen at: tpapet@ruc.dk

12.30 – Thematic Tracks

We will divide into parallel tracks to dive deeper into these exciting topics. Each track will feature 3-4 presentations with ongoing Danish pyrolysis and biochar projects:

Biochar in agriculture (Moderator: Food & Bio Cluster Denmark)

• Biochar distribution and incorporation in soils must be integrated into common agricultural practices. We must ensure that the biochar quality fulfils the strongest standards to ensure no adverse effects on the soil organisms or crop productivity for the farmers to receive it. Several projects address various aspects of this.

Presentations:

• “Effects of Biochar on Coarse sandy soils. – results from the GUDP project BioAdapt” Esben Bruun, University of Copenhagen
• “Biochar – the new long-term field experiment” Lasse Busk Holm: Aarhus University Agro
• “Fertilizer replacement value of P-rich biochar decreases with increasing pyrolysis temperature” Saadat Malghani, University of Copenhagen 
• TBA

 Climate and environmental effects (Moderator: CLEAN – the Danish Water & Environmental Cluster)

• Biochar has significant potential to help achieve much needed negative emissions of CO2 thorough Biochar Carbon Removal. However, production and use of biochar may have many other effects on climate and environment. In this session, both positive effects and potential adverse effects of producing and using biochar is discussed.

Presentations:

• ”Investigation of environmental issues related to the production and use of biochar” by Wolfgang Norbert Stelte & Phillip Mayer, DTU
• “Working title: Stability of biochar – long term or short-term solution?” Henrik Ingerman, GEUS
• “Can biochar reduce nitrous oxide emissions from agriculture soil” Jonathan Hessner Lindhardt, University of Copenhagen 
• TBA

Advanced energy products from pyrolysis  (Moderator: Energy Cluster Denmark)

Beyond the use of biochar as a climate and agriculture solution, many leading developers are also, at the same time, producing sustainable fuels as a “bi-product” of their production. This is an important driver for the business case, and we will hear much more about the possibilities in the presentations provided by:

• “Perspectives of pyrolysis as a source of Biofuels” Magnus Zingler Stummann, Advanced Biofuels Project Leader, Topsoe.

Society and Systems Analysis (Moderator: Roskilde University)

As pyrolysis and biochar technologies advance in readiness, it is becoming increasingly clear that scaling biochar is not just a technical challenge but also a deeply political and systemic one. Success will require optimized system integration, collaboration and expertise from both public and private stakeholders. This track will explore some of the critical issues involved:

• Planning for Biochar rollout and legal licenses in Region Mid Jutland Mark Booker Nielsen, Phd, Development Consultant for Strategic Climate and Energy Planning, Central Denmark Region
• “Climate impact of managing manure and biogas digestate in systems with or without pyrolysis” Insights from the STABIL project: Andreas Kamp, 
• “Climate impact of biomass pyrolysis – the influence of a dynamic approach” Insights from the SIMPLY project. Magnus Bo Karlsson, PhD
• Business case of pyrolysis – who will own the carbon credits and how can the GHG-reduction be used? Lars Villadsgaard Toft, SEGES Innovation

Advanced Uses of Biochar

Focus on use and more advanced valuechains.

Presentations:

• “Power Bio project. Biochar H2S filter for low-cost cleaning of biogas. “ Andreas Dyreborg Martin, RUC IMT:
• “Potential applications of biochar’s geobattery effect in environmental engineering requiring controlled electron transfer.” Shihao Cui, Aarhus University.
• TBA

If you are interested in sharing a presentation on one of the tracks, please do let the organizers know. Please note that the presentations are not sales pitches and there is a limited number of available slots.

14.00 – Break

We will grap a cup of coffee and head to the workshops spaces provided by RUC.

14.20 – Workshops

Together we will define the topics which are currently the most important within Danish pyrolysis and biochar using the Open Space Technology method. This will give you an opportunity to deep-dive into a discussion of a topic from the thematic tracks, take the first step towards a new joint development project and more. An exciting opportunity on a day where most of Denmark’s pyrolysis and biochar expertise is gathered in one spot.

16.50 – Thank you for today – Tobias Pape Thomsen

Assisted by Christian Munk Jensen (Energy Cluster Denmark), Knud Tybirk (Food & Bio Cluster) & Kasper Havemann (Clean the Danish Water – and Environmental Cluster) 

17.00 – Networking

After an inspiring day, we will unwind with a glass of wine, beer, or soda, enjoying each other’s company. We look forward to a day of insightful presentations, engaging panel discussions, and valuable networking opportunities as we collaborate to shape the future of pyrolysis in Denmark.

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