Our long-standing customer Verbio is shaping social and industrial change towards climate neutrality and ecological production with innovative technologies. In the Verbio biorefineries, raw and residual materials from regional agriculture are refined into climate-friendly fuels, green energy and renewable products for the chemical and agricultural industries. The company provides the feed and food industry with high-quality components made from sustainably produced biomass.
One of these self-developed innovative technologies was launched at Verbio in Brandenburg in 2019. It has since been successfully implemented in the USA and India: The Verbio team produces biomethane from surplus straw, which is available in the form of BioCNG and BioLNG as a climate-friendly and affordable fuel for cars, but above all for lorries and buses.
Straw is a residual material that is produced in agriculture when grain is harvested. It is partly used as bedding for livestock. Until now, the rest has mainly been chopped up and left on the field to form humus. With Verbio technology, this straw can achieve significantly higher added value - for the farmer, for industry and for green mobility. The straw is processed into biomethane in the Verbio plants. The resulting fermentation residue - known as straw humus - is fed back into agriculture as a high-quality fertiliser in the sense of closed cycles.
Verbio operates two such biorefineries in the direct neighbourhood of BUTTING Anlagenbau in Schwedt and Pinnow. Here, biomethane and straw humus are produced from straw bales. Verbio is thus promoting the regional value chain in agriculture. "We produce the annual fuel requirement for a medium-sized car from just four large bales of straw," says CEO Claus Sauter about the potential of this technology.
In addition to biomethane, the international company produces biodiesel, bioethanol, biofertiliser, animal feed and high-quality renewable raw materials for the cosmetics, food and chemical industries. Verbio's straw-biomethane technology is unique in the world. Verbio now also operates similar plants in Pinnow near Schwedt as well as in the USA and India.
BUTTING Anlagenbau has been working for Verbio at the Schwedt / Oder site since 2004. Over the years, other German locations have been added where the company operates production sites: Zörbig, Bitterfeld and Pinnow. "It just fits - the chemistry is right. We have been working together for almost 20 years now. The processes are routine and, above all, goal- and solution-orientated. A partnership of equals," says Olga Bergmann, Project Manager Tank Construction at BUTTING Anlagenbau in Schwedt.
BUTTING Anlagenbau acts sustainably: "Our tanks, columns and complex pipework, including supports, are made from high-quality, corrosion-resistant and recyclable materials for high-quality chemical processes. It is significant to see how our products have been put to good use in collaboration with Verbio for almost two decades now. Affordable climate protection is a current challenge for consumers, politicians and industry. If we can successfully master this with the use of agricultural residues such as straw, that seems very (bio)sophisticated to me," says Marko Busse, Managing Director at BUTTING in Schwedt.
Authors: Ulrike Kurze (Verbio) and Stefanie Wille (BUTTING Anlagenbau)
BUTTING - more than pipes - for a better quality of life
