In Finland, forest products maker Stora Enso says its pilot plant for lignin-based battery materials is now online.
Dubbed Lignode, the material is a wood-based carbon that could be used in electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and large-scale energy storage systems. The global battery market is set to grow ten-fold over the next decade.
“With our pilot plant now ramping up operations, Stora Enso is entering a new value chain in supplying more sustainable anode materials for batteries. With Lignode, we can provide a bio-based, cost-competitive and high-performance material to replace the conventionally used graphite. To serve the fast-growing anode materials market, we are now exploring strategic partnerships to accelerate scale-up and commercialization in Europe,” Markus Mannström, Executive Vice President of Stora Enso’s Biomaterials division, says in a press statement.
The €10 million (USD$11.8 million) unit was first announced in 2019.