Interview with Marcel Huber: Yesterday, today and tomorrow at SYNCRAFT

From vision to reality

Interview with Marcel Huber, SYNCRAFT CEO and co-founder 

_{SYNCRAFT CEO Marcel Huber}

The energy transition needs innovative solutions - and this is exactly where SYNCRAFT comes in with its revolutionary reverse power plants. In an interview with our CEO Marcel Huber, you can find out how forest residues are not only used to produce renewable energy, but also Green Carbon , and why this technology is changing and shaping the future of sustainable energy supply.

The story of how it all began: from university to GreenTech pioneer

Marcel, how did the idea for SYNCRAFT and the reverse power plants come about?

Our journey began back in 2009 at the Management Center Innsbruck (MCI), where we developed our unique and patented biomass conversion process - the so-called Floating Fixed Bed Gasifier. This innovation became the foundation for what SYNCRAFT is today. We have created a technology that truly moves the world forward in terms of sustainable energy solutions.

In the first few years, we worked exclusively on development with just a handful of employees before we were able to reach the commercialization stage with our technology. Today, we employ over 60 people and have over 40 Reversepowerplants built.

The revolutionary concept: Why "Reversepowerplant"?

What does the Reversepowerplants so special and why the name?

The name "Reversepowerplant" illustrates our revolutionary principle: In contrast to conventional coal-fired power plants, which mine fossil coal to generate energy, we produce renewable energy and green carbon from renewable raw materials - i.e. forest residues in the form of wood chips - at the same time.

Our unique Reversepowerplants offer:

• Renewable energy: electricity and heat from forest residues in the form of forest chips
• Green GasFor a wide range of industrial applications
• Green Carbon: As a sustainable substitute for fossil carbon
• Minus-CO₂: active CO₂ removal from the atmosphere

What makes our solution truly revolutionary is that we have created a system that not only generates green energy, but also has a Minus-CO₂. Our Reversepowerplants actively remove CO₂ from the atmosphere by storing it in green carbon - making them not only climate-neutral, but also climate-positive.

Defossilization through green carbon

How does green carbon contribute to defossilization?

SYNCRAFT's green carbon stores around 30% of the CO₂ contained in forest residues and can become a permanent CO₂ sink, depending on how it is reused. At the same time, it has a wide range of applications in industry:

• Metal industry: replacement for fossil carbon in steel production
• Building material production: application in climate clay for long-term CO₂ sequestration
• Industrial processes: Substitutes for fossil raw materials

A sober look into the future reveals an enormous demand for green carbon in the metallurgical industry and in the production of building materials. With our green carbon, we are already achieving the European Union's goal of providing 1 kg of green hydrogen for EUR 3 by 2030.

Innovation and future prospects

What developments do you expect in the next few years?

Polygeneration: the key to success

What are overlooked opportunities in the CleanTech sector?

The polygeneration approach, especially with green carbon and biomass, represents a significant opportunity. The production of multiple products from the feedstock achieves greater resilience - similar to other technologies such as hydrogen production, where oxygen is also produced.

This multi-stage use case approach is common practice with fossil fuels, which partly explains why they are not as expensive. By creating multiple value streams from renewable resources, we can make clean energy economically competitive while providing environmental benefits.

Challenges and solutions

What challenges do you see for the future of clean energy?

Cost transparency remains a significant challenge. We also need to overcome the political knowledge gap on how to design a physically proven, stable energy supply instead of just following ideology.

We cannot compete with the marginal cost structures of established fossil fuels - nobody in the renewable energy sector can. We must not compare apples with oranges here, but must consider the installation and operating costs over the entire life cycle.

Location Tirol: Ideal conditions for innovation

How does the location in Schwaz, Tyrol, influence SYNCRAFT's development?

Our location has considerable advantages:

• Strong link to forest residues: Traditionally strong use of wood in Austria
• High-tech environment: access to highly qualified talent
• Sustainable forestry: Perfectly aligned with our resource requirements
• Innovation culture: support for GreenTech developments

_{SYNCRAFT location Schwaz, Tyrol}

Vision for a climate-positive future

What vision are you pursuing with SYNCRAFT?

Our aim is to make a relevant contribution to the green transition - in terms of both ecological and economic sustainability. The motto "green at any price" leads nowhere because it lacks a convincing incentive and a meaningful business case.

Our entire team is united by the conviction that we never want to have to tell our children that we haven't done everything we can to leave them an intact earth worth living on. With our combination of energy generation and innovative Minus-CO₂, we are pursuing a dual strategy of defossilization and decarbonization.

Political framework conditions for climate protection

What political measure would you suggest for climate protection?

A globally coordinated, increasing carbon tax or fee that grows predictably over time. This would create the market conditions needed to accelerate defossilization across all industries and drive investment in climate-positive technologies like our Reversepowerplants .

Conclusion: Reverse is forward with SYNCRAFT

The future of energy supply lies in intelligent, synergistic systems. SYNCRAFT Reversepowerplants integrate bioenergy, green carbon and _CO₂ removal into a seamless system - merging _negative CO2 with renewable energy production.

Modern bioenergy is no longer just about generating renewable energy - it's about polygeneration. Real climate impact comes from intelligent, synergistic systems. - Marcel Huber, CEO SYNCRAFT