Dubbed Cerisea, the €60 million (US$69.1 million) plant has the capacity to produce 3,000 metric tons of 5-HMF annually using process technology developed with IFP Énergies nouvelles.
The project is led by Michelin Engineered Polymers with the support of Technip Energies and GIE Osiris. It received €20 million from the European Union through the CBE-JU program and €4.5 million from The French Agency for Environment and Energy Management Ademe and France 2030.
“Petro-based materials remain cheaper today, but the gap is closing fast,” Quentin Faucret, President of Michelin Engineered Polymers, tells JEC Composites. “With 5-HMF, we offer a credible and competitive alternative derived from non-food European agricultural resources, which drastically reduces the carbon footprint.”