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36 min ago 3 min read
Sustainable raw materials producer Perpetual Next and waste management firm PreZero Netherlands are to collaborate using waste wood as a raw material for biomethanol and biomethane production.
PreZero will supply Perpetual Next’s factories in the Netherlands, under development in Delfzijl and Moerdijk, with the low-grade waste wood.
Perpetual Next has developed a standardised concept for the production of biomethanol, based on proven industrial technologies. This blueprint makes it possible “to easily replicate this concept and roll it out on a large scale,” according to a statement.
Global demand for biomethanol is growing rapidly. Research by Intelmarket Research (May 2025) shows a compound (expected) annual growth rate of approximately 44.5% between 2025 and 2032. Perpetual Next is a shareholder in EemsGas in the Netherlands, which focuses on converting waste wood into sustainable biomethane for the Dutch gas grid.
Jurre Hijman, Perpetual Next’s CCO, said having a reliable supply of raw materials is crucial for stable production and predictable output in our factories.
Ruud Langenhuijsen, Product Manager Value Chain Wood at PreZero, said it ensures that as many raw materials as possible remain in the loop.
“Low-grade waste wood currently often has a low-grade destination,” he said. “By utilizing this stream for the production of biomethanol and biomethane, we preserve the value of the raw material and make the industry more sustainable.”
Wood is converted into biomethane primarily through thermochemical gasification followed by methanation, rather than traditional anaerobic digestion.
Using wood as a feedstock for biomethane production may be attractive due to its abundance and non-food competition status, but it presents major technical, economic, and operational hurdles.
The core challenge is that it is naturally resistant to biological breakdown, requiring “intensive pretreatment or thermochemical gasification to yield biomethane efficiently”, according to the International Energy Agency.
Gasifying wood produces heavy hydrocarbons (tars) that condense out as temperatures drop. These tars can quickly clog up equipment, poison downstream methanation catalysts, and require complex, expensive gas cleanup systems.
Advanced thermal gasification and catalytic upgrading facilities are far more sophisticated and capital-intensive to build than basic biological digesters.
Perpetual Next is developing large-scale production facilities in the Netherlands, Estonia, and the US, while pursuing further international expansion.
The EemsGas Project received a subsidy grant from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency to support the production phase of the biomethane plant in Delfzijl.
