Haffner Energy signs MOU with Hexas Biomass to boost green energy, biomass production

France’s Haffner Energy has joined forces with Hexas Biomass in the United States to boost green energy and biomass production.

Haffner specializes in renewable energy solutions while Hexas focuses on sustainable plant materials. The collaboration was cemented with a formal memorandum of understanding (MOU) that establishes a “non-exclusive partnership.” The two companies are already involved together in a project in Morocco.

“The signing of this partnership will enable Hexas and Haffner Energy to offer a turnkey solution for the production of green energy, with guaranteed feedstock availability and cost,” Haffner said in a press release. “This non-exclusive agreement augurs well for the future of energy recovery from sustainable and abundant purposefully grown biomass with non-competing uses.”

“We are thrilled to have signed this partnership, which adds a new dimension to Haffner Energy’s offering, and enables us to provide our customers with an integrated solution for the autonomous production of renewable energy,” said Marcella Franchi, SVP North America of Haffner Energy.

“At Hexas, we believe in the partnership of sustainable energy production and purposefully grown bioenergy crops. These two technologies together will accelerate the move to 100% renewable energy in all industries, capture significant amounts of carbon permanently, and revitalize rural communities,” said Wendy Owens, CEO of Hexas.

Haffner Energy

Haffner Energy has developed an “innovative, patented biomass thermolysis technology thanks to a 30-year expertise in the transformation of biomass into energy,” it said. It addresses the decarbonization challenges and economic constraints in industry, government, land, air, and sea mobility. It also contributes to regenerating the planet through the co-production of biochar, a natural carbon sink, and biogenic CO2, it said.

Hexas Biomass

Hexas is a “nature-based solutions company that has developed a drought-resistant, regenerative giant perennial grass (XanoGrass) that can be easily made available as sustainable plant-based raw material (XanoFiber) once harvested,” Haffner said in the press release. XanoFiber production utilizes marginal land that is unsuitable for agriculture, which can be used to power local biomass-to-energy modules, and for structural and non-structural applications, meets both companies’ shared objectives of regenerating the planet through innovation and sustainable energy production solutions.

Environmental virtues

The aggregated environmental virtues of this solution are “formidable,” Haffner said in the press release. They include:

• CO2 captured by XanoGrass through photosynthesis
• CO2 sequestered in the biochar and biogenic CO2 produced by Haffner Energy’s solutions
• Regeneration of marginal land thanks to XanoGrass and soil amendment from biochar
• Greenhouse gas emissions avoided by substituting renewable fuels from biomass to fossil fuels.