In Ulrik’s Coffee Club, They Keep Coffee and Pyrolysis Warm

Pyrolysis’ grand old man, senior researcher Ulrik Birk Henriksen, is leaving DTU after 30 years at the forefront. However, his former students and collaborators are not letting him go, gathering every other month in ‘Ulrik’s Coffee Club’.

Ulrik Birk Henriksen resembles a combination of your favorite elementary school teacher and Ramasjang’s Uncle Reje. With his glasses pushed up on his forehead and a smile in his full beard, the grand old man of pyrolysis invites his guests to help themselves to a plentiful tray of croissants.

“Dig in! There are regular ones and some with chocolate,” he says, passing around the thermos.

We’re at the Department of Chemical Engineering at DTU Risø, where Ulrik Birk Henriksen has pyrolysis, biogas, soil improvement, biochar, and much more within his field of work – at least for a little while longer.

Ulrik Birk Henriksen is in his final spring as a senior researcher. He’s retiring, taking with him decades of knowledge and insight into the mysteries and possibilities of pyrolysis. And that’s not going unnoticed.

“No one has more competent knowledge of pyrolysis than him. We need to hold on to that,” says Jakob Bejbro Andersen, CEO of MASH Makes A/S.

The family came together for coffee

Jakob Bejbro Andersen is a former PhD student of Ulrik Birk Henriksen and a member of ‘Ulrik’s Coffee Club’ – an open, informal group for anyone wanting to learn more about pyrolysis. There are many who do.

The club includes some of Ulrik Birk Henriksen’s former students and collaborators, all eager to maintain a lifeline to their mentor.

Today, eight of them are gathered over coffee – technicians, educators, and PhD students from DTU, as well as employees from pyrolysis companies like Stiesdal’s Skyclean and AquaGreen, which, like MASH Makes A/S, consider Ulrik Birk Henriksen and the Department of Chemical Engineering as their technological forefather.

“It’s one big family. Pure inbreeding,” jokes DTU technician Joen Stubbe Teglbjærg during the introductions, where everyone somehow acknowledges a DNA strand from Ulrik Birk Henriksen.

Problem-solving on the fly

And many do.

“I’ve been part of Ulrik’s coffee group for 20 years with various projects and companies,” says Mads Nielsen, Head of Technology and R&D at Aquagreen:

“The product we have today was developed with Ulrik’s group. We sketched it on the back of an envelope, and that’s still the concept today. It demonstrates the value of having access to knowledge and a research environment where you can solve a problem on the fly,” he says.

Others nod in agreement:

“We’ve all drunk an incredible amount of coffee with Ulrik while discussing developments,” says Jesper Noes, project manager at Stiesdal Skyclean:

“It’s called Ulrik’s Coffee Club because it fits Ulrik’s legacy, style, and spirit. We’ve all become wiser over coffee,” he says.

The intellectually enriching community in the coffee club is one aspect; another is the establishment of a genuine pyrolysis industry with a shared framework of understanding.

“We’re united in kickstarting a new industry and addressing many of the same regulatory questions,” says Jesper Ahrenfeldt, chief engineer at Stiesdal Skyclean:

“When someone asks how long CO2 can be bound as biochar in the soil, those who are best equipped to answer are gathered right here. The technology was invented by us, and with common standards and answers, we avoid hindering the pace of deployment,” he says.

100 employees

And deployment needs to be rapid for pyrolysis to win the climate battle. The good news is that the pyrolysis industry has gained momentum.

“Since we ramped up efforts 3-4 years ago to tie together the research done here, a lot has happened,” says Ulrik Birk Henriksen.

That’s an understatement. Altogether, there are more than 100 employees in the companies working on pyrolysis, all based on what was discussed over coffee with Ulrik.

“I’m damn glad that it actually materialized,” he says.

Will you be as bad a retiree as Henrik Stiesdal?

“We’ll see,” says Ulrik Birk Henriksen with a grin.

“You can count on it,” the rest of the coffee club chimes in.

“When we hit a wall in our development in India, we went to Ulrik. He’s the birthplace of a lot of development and access to world-class research. That’s what we want to hold on to.”, says Jakob Bejbro Andersen, CEO, MASH MAKES

“That’s awesome!”

Marianne Thellersen, Senior Vice President, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, DTU and board member of Energy Cluster Denmark, is thoroughly excited to hear about Ulrik’s Coffee Club:

“I’m very pleased that something like this arises. One can get caught up in project waves, moving from one project to another. Here, innovation projects have spawned a strong professional community that is too good to miss and therefore lives on and can lead to new projects. That’s awesome!”

“It’s something you can’t orchestrate but grows organically from having a common interest and fully engaging, and also from having strong individuals who embrace and gather.”

Facts

Energy Cluster Denmark and partners have been involved in the following pyrolysis projects based on Ulrik Birk Henriksen’s work at DTU:

SkyClean Scale-up
Total budget: DKK 200 million
EU NextGenerationEU funding: DKK 24 million
Project period: 2022-2025

Partners: Stiesdal SkyClean, BB Bioenergi P/S, KK Wind Solutions, Aktive Energi Anlæg A/S, Topsoe, Vestjyllands Andel, SEGES Innovation, DTU Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, DTU Construct, Roskilde University, University of Copenhagen – Plant and Environment, Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Department of Agroecology – Aarhus University, Food & Bio Cluster Denmark, and Energy Cluster Denmark.

SkyClean 2 MW
Total budget: DKK 36 million
EU NextGenerationEU funding: DKK 21 million
Project period: 2021-2024

Partners: Stiesdal Fuel Technologies, Danish Gas Technology Centre, DTU Energy, DTU-Chemical Engineering, Haldor Topsøe A/S, Ørsted A/S, and Energy Cluster Denmark.

Low NOx Burner
Total budget: DKK 1.4 million
EU Regional Fund support: DKK 0.7 million
Project period: 2019-2021

Partners: AquaGreen, DTU, Odsherred Forsyning, and Energy Cluster Denmark.

KTR
Total budget: DKK 2.7 million
EU Regional Fund support: DKK 1.2 million
Project period: 2019-2021

Partners: MASH Energy, DFDS, Kanda, IPU, DTU, and Energy Cluster Denmark.