Transform biomass side streams into clean energy
Uzwil (Switzerland), March 4, 2021 – Bühler Group and Vyncke form a strategic partnership to offer integrated solutions with which biomass side stream products are transformed into clean process energy while reducing the customers’ carbon footprint. The dependency on fossil fuels – and with this, CO2 emissions – can decrease from 20%-100%, depending on the raw material and side stream products. This means that in some cases, food plants can become fully carbon neutral. The first focus of the partnership is the segments of cocoa, oat, and malt processing. “This partnership is a key element in our strategy to massively reduce CO2 in the value chains of our customers,” says Johannes Wick, CEO of Bühler Grains & Food. “Many industries rely on our solutions to reduce their fossil fuel consumption. With Bühler, we now aim to also become the standard to reduce the CO2 footprint of the food industry,” says Peter Vyncke, owner of Vyncke. “Together, Bühler and Vyncke can now offer integrated and optimized solutions where economic and ecological benefits go hand in hand.”
Biomass by-products are generated in almost all food processes. Typical examples are the processing of grains, rice, corn, and cocoa. Today, by-products are often either used for animal feed or simply disposed of. From biomass by-products, food manufacturers can also produce a climate-neutral form of energy. Unlike the combustion of fossil fuels, the use of biomass energy helps controlling greenhouse gas emissions as the only fraction released corresponds to what the plants previously took from the atmosphere during their growth, which is less than transporting the side stream products to a place where they would be used for feed or disposal. This creates a neutral CO2 cycle. With new equipment, digital services and retrofit offerings, Bühler already made strong progress in making its solutions more energy efficient. “By adding Vyncke’s energy recovery processes to our portfolio, we can offer our customers low- to zero-carbon food solutions,” says Johannes Wick.
Belgian technology supplier Vyncke specializes in energy production from a wide range of biomass by-products, including industrial or municipal wastes. The range of biomass-based fuels available for energy production is broad; from agricultural and wood residues to sludges from industrial processes, recycled wood, and specially grown energy crops. Vyncke designs and builds green and clean energy systems that combust biomass and waste to produce thermal process energy from 1-100 megawatt hours (Mwh) and electrical energy from 0.5-15 megawatt electrical (Mwe).
Outside of energy-intensive industries, most companies have tended to view energy procurement as a cost to be managed rather than a strategic area in the value chain. Yet today, energy is becoming one of the most important levers for business success. With their cooperation, Bühler Group and Vyncke are addressing this issue to develop solutions for more sustainable food production – with holistic process chains in which energy recovery is integrated so that external energy consumption and energy costs can be reduced. This not only contributes to greater sustainability, but also opens competitive advantages for food producers through greater energy efficiency.
“Today, we are far from exploiting the full potential of recovering energy from side stream products. Our goal is to reduce the energy consumption of a food plant by up to 70%. The beauty of our solutions is that sustainability and economic criteria go hand in hand. Today, we are already enabling our customers to reduce emissions by 2.5 million tons of CO2 annually. By partnering with Bühler, we can further improve and scale these solutions in an integrated approach to create a much larger positive impact,” says Peter Vyncke.
One particularly important joint project will be the expansion of a malt production plant for Bühler’s long-time business partner, Malteria Oriental S.A. in Montevideo, Uruguay. Malteria Oriental S.A. belongs to the Grupo Petrópolis, one of Brazil’s largest beer producers. Their brewing business requires more malt, as beer consumption in South America has grown steadily in recent years.
In malt houses, the thermal energy consumption for drying malt is enormous. In the project, Vyncke will be responsible for recovering thermal energy from biomass, which is a by-product of malt production. Through an on-site energy audit, Vyncke developed a set-up to reduce the size of the energy system by 30%, creating savings in the total investment as well as the operational costs. Vyncke will build a turn-key 20-megawatt superheated water boiler with dual combustion systems which will burn internal barley husks and plant rejects, completed by externally sourced wood chips. This will save 35,000 tons of CO2 emissions each year compared to standard operational practices in Uruguay.
The new malt house is designed for a batch size of 260 tons of barley and has an annual capacity of 77,000 tons of malt. Commissioning and production are scheduled for March 2022.
“By working closely together, we aim to execute projects with less coordination effort for our customer. Our joint innovative strength will drive us into the future and our customers will have ever better and more efficient solutions at their disposal,” says Johannes Wick.
Both Vyncke and Bühler have set the goal of reducing energy consumption in all new food plants by at least 50% by 2025. Together, both partners want to create the possibility of making malting plants CO2 neutral. The project in Uruguay is just the beginning. In the future, both partners intend to coordinate their solutions technologically in a targeted manner.
For more information about Bühler partnerships and product launches, visit the Bühler Virtual World 2021 website.
Media representatives can still register for the Bühler Virtual World media conference by no later than Friday, March 12, 2021, with this link: Registration for Bühler Virtual World media conference
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About Vyncke
VYNCKE is a 4th generation global family business with its roots in Flanders and today locally organized with over 350 enthusiastic Vynckeneers in Brazil, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, India, Malaysia, Thailand and China.
VYNCKE designs and builds green and clean energy plants burning biomass and waste to produce thermal energy from 1 – 100 MWth and electrical power from 0.5 – 15 MWe. The energy comes individually or in any combination of steam, hot water, thermal oil and hot gas, with or without electrical power generation. Today we have over 4,200 successful references worldwide.
VYNCKE designs and builds industrial energy plants that convert biomass waste and sorted industrial waste into green and clean energy – namely thermal energy (steam, hot water, thermal oil, hot gas from 1 – 100 MWth) or electrical power (0.5 – 15 MWe), or any combination of these energy media. VYNCKE mainly supplies to the agri-food industry, the wood industry and all other industries that choose to make use of biomass and solid recovered fuels instead of fossil fuels. VYNCKE provides solutions, not products. Each solution is tailor-made to suit the needs of each customer.
VYNCKE is a fourth-generation global family business – with roots in West Flanders, Belgium – with 370 Vynckeneers all over the world and with settlements in Flanders, Brazil, Germany, the Czech Republic, Spain, China, Thailand and Malaysia. The company’s global impact cannot be overrated: by converting waste into clean energy, VYNCKE provides sustainable energy solutions all over the world, even in the remotest areas. Today it has over 4,200 successful references worldwide. www.vyncke.com
About Bühler
Bühler is driven by its purpose of creating innovations for a better world, balancing the needs of economy, humanity, and nature. As a relevant solution partner for the food and mobility industries, Bühler is committed to reduce energy, waste, and water in its customers’ value chains by 50% by 2025. Billions of people come into contact with Bühler technologies as they cover their basic needs for food and mobility every day. Two billion people each day enjoy foods produced on Bühler equipment; and one billion people travel in vehicles manufactured using parts produced with Bühler technology. Countless people wear eyeglasses, use smart phones, and read newspapers and magazines – all of which depend on Bühler process technologies and solutions. Having this global relevance, Bühler is in a unique position to turn today’s global challenges into sustainable business. Bühler contributes to safely feeding the world and is doing its part to protect the climate, producing solutions that make cars, buildings, and machinery more energy efficient.
Bühler invests up to 5% of turnover into research and development. In 2020, some 12,500 employees generated a turnover of CHF 2.7 billion. As a Swiss family-owned company, Bühler is active in 140 countries around the world and operates a global network of 100 service stations, 33 manufacturing sites, and application and training centers in 24 locations. www.buhlergroup.com
