Opportunities thanks to industrial transformation: The closed value chain of CHAR Technologies, PyroGenesis, and BASF

CHAR Technologies and decentralized resource recovery

CHAR Technologies focuses on decentralized resource recovery, converting forestry waste, biosolids, and sewage sludge into renewable natural gas, green hydrogen, and solid biochar. The Thorold Renewable Energy Facility in the Canadian province of Ontario recently commenced commercial operations, demonstrating the applicability of the technology. In the first phase, the plant is designed for an annual production of 5,000 tons of biochar, with plans to expand to 10,000 tons and produce renewable natural gas in a second phase. The biochar produced in Thorold serves as a carbon-neutral substitute for fossil coal in the steel industry, which represents a measurable operational cost advantage for industrial customers in view of rising CO2 prices.

The technological basis is high-temperature pyrolysis (HTP), which operates at higher temperatures than slow processes, increases energy yield efficiency, and produces a clean synthesis gas. A completed demonstration project in Baltimore also validated the ability of HTP technology to completely destroy long-chain fluorinated compounds (PFAS), also known as "forever chemicals," in municipal biosolids through heat. Financially, the company recorded a profit of CAD 4.13 million from a joint venture contribution in fiscal year 2025, which was largely driven by the cooperation with the BMI Group. With an initial investment of CAD 8 million in the Thorold project and a further commitment of CAD 10 million for the Espanola project, the BMI Group is strengthening CHAR Technologies' capital base for the upcoming capacity expansion.

PyroGenesis electrifies heavy industry

While CHAR Technologies primarily processes organic waste, PyroGenesis addresses the direct emissions of large-scale industrial processes through the use of plasma technology. Electric plasma burners replace fossil fuels and achieve the temperatures required for energy-intensive processes such as deacidification in cement production or metal production. In the cement industry, where around 40% of total emissions come from the combustion of fossil fuels, the company signed a CAD 1.3 million contract with a European customer in December 2025 to supply a plasma burner for a rotary kiln. At the same time, in January 2026, PyroGenesis delivered a 4.5 MW plasma burner to a customer in the US defense sector, which will serve as the technological basis for the planned scaling up to a 20 MW system.

BASF scales up and integrates global material flows

The world's largest chemical company, BASF, is using the pyrolysis process for large-scale industrial recycling and the production of low-carbon hydrogen. In partnership with ExxonMobil, BASF is driving methane pyrolysis to market maturity, in which natural gas is split directly into hydrogen and solid carbon without generating any process-related CO2 emissions. The demonstration plant at ExxonMobil's Baytown, Texas, site is designed to produce 2,000 tons of low-carbon hydrogen and 6,000 tons of solid carbon annually. Since this process uses existing natural gas infrastructure and requires about five times less energy than conventional water electrolysis, it can be scaled up more quickly and economically on an industrial scale.

Market Dynamics – Focus on CHAR Technologies

Market observers at Wood Mackenzie characterize 2026 as a consolidation phase for the hydrogen sector, with capital increasingly allocated to projects backed by secured off-take agreements. An analysis by PwC further indicates that 93% of surveyed CEOs are pushing ahead with the regionalization of supply chains, which increases the need for local energy production. CHAR Technologies' decentralized pyrolysis facilities serve this trend toward nearshoring, as they utilize local waste materials to make regional industrial companies less dependent on energy imports. In the hydrogen ecosystem, large industrial players such as BASF act as anchor off-takers, providing the baseline demand required to underpin investment in emerging production technologies. From an investment perspective, CHAR Technologies appears particularly interesting – the company is making operational progress and has secured a strategic partner. Given its market capitalization of just over CAD 30 million, the stock is likely to have further potential if successful.