Swedish technology company C-Green has been selected as an industrial partner in Infinity Fiber, an eight-year, €9 million research initiative based at Karlstad University aimed at dramatically increasing the value extracted from forest raw materials — pushing the lifespan of wood fibres from today’s 2–3 uses to more than 20.
The Initiative
Infinity Fiber brings together researchers and industrial partners spanning the entire forest industry value chain. It builds on the Pro2BE research environment at Karlstad University and is being carried out in close collaboration with 14 companies from across that value chain. The project is funded by the Knowledge Foundation (KK-stiftelsen) together with the university and industry, through the Foundation’s Research Profiles programme, which supports long-term research collaborations between universities and industry.
C-Green’s Role
C-Green’s contribution centers on its expertise in Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC), investigating how the technology can improve resource efficiency in fibre recycling. As part of the project, the company will supply HTC biocoal produced from biosludge at its full-scale reference plant at Stora Enso’s Heinola Fluting Mill in Finland.
Monika Schildknecht, CEO of C-Green, explained what the collaboration unlocks: “Infinity Fiber gives us the opportunity to work together with Karlstad University and the other industrial partners to develop new knowledge about how residual streams from the forest industry can be used more efficiently. The insights gained from the project will contribute to the continued development of our HTC technology for the pulp and paper industry.”
The project also expands the scope of C-Green’s earlier research. Maria Sandberg, Associate Professor of Environmental and Energy Systems at Karlstad University, noted: “In the previous Närskog project, we focused on new applications for HTC biocoal, also known as hydrochar. In Infinity Fiber, we are broadening the perspective and will also study the recovery of nitrogen from the process water. This could reduce the need for added nitrogen in both wastewater treatment and flue gas treatment, while also reducing NOx emissions. By evaluating the entire system from both economic and climate perspectives, we can develop sustainable and commercially viable solutions for the forest industry.”
About C-Green
C-Green is a Swedish technology company developing a cost- and energy-efficient Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC) technology that converts waste-classified sludge into dry HTC biocoal, usable as a biofuel, fertiliser, or soil amendment. The technology also enables biogas production through anaerobic digestion of the process water, along with recovery of nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen. It’s well suited to operations like wastewater treatment plants, the pulp and paper industry, and the food industry, all of which generate sludge as a residual stream.
Source: C-Green Technology AB press release
