MEET GEOFF LINDSAY, Vow Technical Sales Manager, North America

Vow technologies convert biomass and waste into valuable resources and generate clean energy.

Q What makes Vow unique in the marketplace and how long have you been in business?

Lindsay  The unique quality of Vow (headquartered in Oslo, Norway) is that we’ve been the market leader in advanced wastewater purification systems for cruise ships for over a decade and have over 20 years of experience in pyrolysis. In recent years, we’ve acquired several leading technology companies that have allowed us to expand. We currently design and deploy three unique pyrolysis systems which are robust, flexible, scalable, allow us to serve a broad range of markets, and solve industry challenges from different angles.

Q What are Vow's major challenges?

Lindsay The biggest challenge we’re seeing from our industry partners is building scalable pyrolysis solutions to match the large volumes of biomass waste and achieving that scale fast. There is a huge demand for industrial carbon recycling plants to convert waste streams into valuable carbon neutral outputs. In 2021, we established Vow Green Metals (VGM) to meet metallurgic industry demands for biocarbon and CO2 neutral energy. VGM is now building Europe’s largest biocarbon production plant in Norway which will replace fossil coke in ferrous and non-ferrous metal production with 10,000 tonnes of biocarbon every year. This plant is still only going to produce about 1/35th of the biocarbon needed by one metal producer in Norway so there is a massive market to satisfy. 

Q  How does your Biogreen pyrolysis technology work and what makes it so versatile?

Lindsay Our flagship pyrolysis technology, Biogreen, is an electrically heated pyrolysis process utilizing our Spirajoule technology to directly transfer heat to feedstock in a precise and controlled way. Spirajoule is a shaftless screw conveyor that is heated by continuously applying a low voltage current just like a toaster or electric furnace. Due to this design, we’re able to precisely control the process conditions within the reactor to efficiently achieve complete carbonization of different feedstocks which may require different temperatures or residence times. Because we are using electricity as the heat source, we capture and valorize 100% of the pyrolysis gas to produce CO2 neutral energy. 

We also have also developed a microwave assisted pyrolysis (MAP) technology that will convert solid waste streams on cruise ships into biochar and CO2 neutral steam for use on board the ship. 

Our third industrial pyrolysis technology is being developed by our subsidiary C.H. Evensen which is building a 5 tonne per hour Evensen reactor for markets where CO2 neutral energy is not as attractive an output.

Q Just this month, your Biogreen pyrolysis technology was selected for Sweden’s largest production facility for producing biochar from garden waste and be demoed in a one-of-a-kind research center. Tell us about these exciting projects!

Lindsay  This project with NSR, a Swedish waste management and recycling company, is very exciting for us. The plant will produce 1,500 tonnes of biochar per year which will be delivered back to the community for soil amendment in parks and green spaces. The 11GWh of syngas produced will be thermally degraded in a boiler to produce hot water for 700 homes per year. It’s a perfect example of the circular economies that are possible if we make some small adjustments to our mindset about waste. NSR will also demo our Biogreen technology at their research and education center which is one of seven facilities globally receiving funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies as a means to scale up the potential of biochar pyCCs as a major solution to combat climate change. 

Q As you look ahead into the next year, how do you see biochar playing a role in your solutions?

Lindsay  Biochar and biocarbon are central to Vow’s business strategy. We're looking forward to more widespread adoption of biochar in agriculture, horticulture, and industry. Our goal is to see a world without waste and we are focused on solutions to achieve this. Biochar is one of the useful products we can produce in our systems to repurpose waste and give it new value.

Vow believes that we can use pyrolysis to help the world address the energy security concerns brought about by the Ukrainian crisis. Pyrolysis is now a leading CO2 neutral technology that can replace fossil natural gas. In France, we are partnering with GRTgaz in France to upgrade pyrolysis gas into grid injectable renewable natural gas.