Description

A Bio Green Woods (BGW) is preparing to launch, in Alvaiázere, the operation of its first industrial unit, the product of more than a decade and a half of study, research and investment in a project that will be completed with the construction of the first state-of-the-art Biorefinery in Portugal.

Looking at waste as just the beginning, led BGW's chemical and mechanical engineers from the Research and Development and Innovation departments to develop an exclusive and innovative layout and production process that maximizes biomass, agricultural and domestic waste.

BGW's process was designed according to the principles of circularity, to obtain products with high added value, diversified, and suitable for different uses and purposes.

 In this industrial unit, the company intends to produce: 

• 100% environmentally friendly, high-quality charcoal and biochar with high fixed carbon content;
• liquid by-products, such as Liquid Smoke, Wood Vinegar, Methyl Acetate and Eucalyptol for areas such as biochemistry, food, and cosmetics, among others.

The project has an investment of over 16M€. It is being financed by equity, debt emission, public subsidies, and crowdlending campaigns up to 1 million euros.

This is the sixth campaign of a total financing goal of 1M€ that the project promoter intends to raise with GoParity’s community. The funds raised will be used to secure the construction and acquisition of the bio-refinery equipment. A total of 450.000€ has already been raised among GoParity's investors in Bio Green Woods, Bio Green Woods II, Bio Green Woods III, Bio Green Woods IV, and Bio Green Woods V. The present campaign aims to raise an additional 100.000€.

This project differentiates itself through the use of forest biomass from invasive species, contributing to balanced forest management, as well as through its commitment to purchasing only certified wood.

BGW developed its innovative production process through several years of R&D investment, culminating with the construction of pre-industrial prototypes with which it was able to perform several tests to validate its production ratios as well as a business model. This process allows for the more efficient production of higher quality products, without the emission of greenhouse gases and healthier products. This results in gains for the final consumer, the environment and the investors.

The project is in line with the European trends in industry decarbonization, focusing its production on green processes, free of greenhouse gas emissions. The project also fulfills the criteria regarding total resource usage, reducing or even eliminating the waste arising from the productive processes. It is also presented as a solution to accelerate the energy transition and as an alternative to oil. BGW strongly endorses innovation and exports its production, creating value for the Portuguese and European economies, while contributing to the development of territories within the country.

This project is the first step towards the construction of the first bio-refinery in Europe, providing Portugal with the ability to export several final products resulting from this investment, or replacing imports, contributing to an improvement in its trade balance. A project that creates 100% sustainable added value and contributes to ensuring carbon neutrality, circularity, and energy resilience.

The Impact

• Reduction of oil dependence by replacing it with more sustainable products: by contributing to the chemical industry with raw materials which are plant-sourced, through the use of biomass from forest waste (invasive species), BGW expects to capture its entire CO2 emissions, estimated at more than 8,000 tonnes.
• Promotion of green and innovative chemicals: Europe’s first third-generation bio-refinery, will carry out an innovative and sustainable production, with total use of forest biomass.
• Promotion of sustainable production and consumption:  in its bio-refinery, BGW will produce high-quality charcoal with a high rate of fixed carbon (environmentally friendly), a gas which can be converted into electrical energy, and sustainably sourced chemical liquids such as bio-oil (the production and consumption of these liquids assume neutral or very limited CO2 emissions, compared to fossil fuels).
• Fire prevention: the use of forest biomass for the conversion into electrical energy or others, duly regulated and directed, can contribute to reducing the fire risk since it will promote more sustainable forest management and consequently will change the structure of forest stands and landscape.
• Promotion of the forestry industry and its producers: the sustainable use of forest biomass creates conditions for improving the profitability of the forest. It increases its productivity and the value of the ligneous and non-ligneous materials resulting from the management of the forest stands. BGW will work with several local forest producers, enhancing the sustainable management of the forest and the quality of life of the producers.

Contribution to the Sustainable
Development Goals

Sustainable Development Goals

Financial viability

Download Key Investment Information Sheet

Guarantees

Equipment pledge

The Promoter

About BGW, S.A.

Bio Green Woods is a pioneering company in Europe in what regards the complete use of materials and energy. Based in Alvaiázere, district of Leiria, where they launched, in May, the first European industrial wood bio-refining state-of-the-art plant. 

Currently the company has 25 employees and 17 on-the-job trainees.

BGW has developed a charcoal production unit, through wood distillation, a unique and innovative method in Europe. This is an exclusive and unprecedented technique that ensures more homogeneous and higher-quality products, through an environmentally clean process. The company also fully captures and transforms all gases resulting from the pyrolysis process, including condensable gases for the production of by-products (vegetable tar and pyroligneous acid), and non-condensable gases such as energy, ensuring zero waste.

The company has as partners:

• Geskasai, Lda – represented by BGW’s CEO, Sérgio Silva. With over 16 years of experience in international trade, Sergio was the forerunner of this project after several years of travel, studies and global analyses of the world market for charcoal, energy, bio-based chemicals and new materials. From the outset, Sérgio was the main and sole funder of the project, betting since the beginning on the development of industrial processes which would be materialized in the first large-scale industrial unit that is being built;
• BlueCrow Capital – Private equity fund focused on green and blue economy (forest and sea) investments;
• Pedro Ferreirinha – Mechanical engineer and responsible for the various patents submitted by the company during the R&D developments, Pedro has been part of the project since the creation of the concept, taking part in its development, from the design of the various prototypes ot the creation of the new industrial unit.

Business Model

Updates