Maersk invests in Vertoro to develop green lignin marine fuels

In Denmark, Maersk Growth, the corporate venture arm of A.P. Moller – Maersk, has invested in Vertoro – a Dutch start-up focused on developing liquid lignin technology which can be used as a marine fuel. Maersk’s investment will be used to further develop and commercialize Vertoro’s patented liquid lignin technology, and it will enable Vertoro to build a demo plant, which will become operational in 2022. The output of this plant will be used to develop marine fuels in partnership with Maersk as well as other applications for the materials and chemicals markets.

The minority investment supports A.P. Moller – Maersk’s work to decarbonise marine operations. Maersk expects several fuel types to exist alongside each other in the future and has identified four potential fuel pathways to decarbonisation: biodiesel, alcohols, ammonia, and lignin-enhanced alcohols. Lignin is a class of complex organic polymers which form key structural materials in the support tissues of most plants.