Since it was created in 2008, the Company has striven continuously to develop its process, first in the laboratory then in a pilot and finally in a demo plant, passing a string of milestones and reaching the threshold of commercial roll-out.
Stage 1 – Proof of concept
To begin with, Global Bioenergies successfully set up a laboratory-scale prototype to provide proof of concept for its technology.
The Company also laid the foundations for its intellectual property, and it now holds exclusive rights to a constantly growing patent portfolio.
Stage 2 – Laboratory development
Secondly, after its IPO on the Euronext Growth market, the Company refined its process on a laboratory scale.
Stage 3 – Industrialization
The third phase of industrialization was devoted to the industrial scale-up of this first fermentation process for the production of a gas. This process offers significant advantages in terms of reduced operating costs.
Industrialization took place in 3 steps:
- 2015: start-up of an industrial pilot (500L) on the Pomacle-Bazancourt site, making it possible to acclimatize the process to an industrial environment on a scale ten times larger than in the laboratory and to produce the first batches of renewable isobutene for our industrial partners ;
- 2017: start-up of a demo plant (5m3) on the Leuna refinery site in Germany, prefiguring commercial plants based on a one-step process and producing the first tons of isobutene which, from 2022, could be converted into isododecane and incorporated into LAST® make-up products.
3. 2022: launch of a commercial production unit on the Pomacle-Bazancourt site based on a two-step process evolution allowing to use the existing fermenters provided by ARD for the first production step and to use our specific equipment for the second fermentation step. This unit will be able to produce on a scale of tens of tons (at full capacity) starting in 2022, with the ambition of selling natural ingredients to the major cosmetics and make-up manufacturers.
Stage 4 – Commercialization
The value chain developed in recent years by Global Bioenergies now allows the Company to produce cosmetic grade isododecane on a tonne scale. Each tonne is enough for several hundred thousand make-up products. The segment is poised to enter its commercial launch phase, with a potential impact on the retail market amounting to tens of millions of euros. Global Bioenergies wants to extract the maximum value from its innovation by creating its own brand of longwear cosmetics products, scheduled to launch in 2021.
Marketing will coincide with the ramp-up of isododecane production capacity in the months and years to come. In the first place, bio-sourced isododecane will be marketed to other longwear cosmetics makers, offering them the chance to make 90%+ naturally sourced products. The next segment targeted will be makers of skincare and haircare products, a market set to grow strongly as the use of some silicons are phased out in Europe.
Finally, in the longer term, isododecane can be sold for gradual incorporation as an aircraft fuel as soon as it becomes economically competitive with oil-derived kerosene, notably through state-sponsored incentive plans to help counter global warming, and voluntary policies by airlines to cut their environmental footprint.
