Belgium-based technology start-up Oxylum plans to tap into Europe’s rapidly growing biomethane sector by converting waste CO2 into formic acid, which is a valuable chemical feedstock. It will need partners as it scales, but is clear on the market potential.
Speaking at gasworld’s European CO2 Summit 2025 in Rotterdam, Oxylum CEO and co-founder Bert De Mot highlighted a significant, untapped opportunity to utilise purified CO2 from biomethane and biogas plants. Today many of these currently vent the gas as a waste stream for a a lack of suitable infrastructure.
“These facilities don’t have utilities or the pipeline network that we in the chemical or metal industries are used to,” De Mot explained. “They have no other option than to throw the CO2 into the air.”
Oxylum’s solution uses electrochemical conversion, similar in principle to water electrolysis for green hydrogen production. It converts CO2 directly into formic acid and carbon monoxide. The process will only be used where it can rely entirely on renewable electricity.
Oxylum’s Bert De Mot speaking at gasworld’s European CO2 Summit 2025
Formic acid was selected as Oxylum’s initial target due to its relatively high market value, moderate energy requirements, and ease of transport as a stable liquid chemical. Despite currently being a smaller global market, valued around €2bn, De Mot believes formic acid offers substantial growth potential due to its widespread use across industries including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and cleaning products.
“Our philosophy is not just to store this CO2 once it’s captured,” De Mot said. “We should start using it, and we should start leveraging the carbon that’s in this molecule.”
One application Oxylum is pursuing involves partnering with Dutch start-up DENS to develop formic acid as a hydrogen energy carrier, enabling seasonal renewable energy storage. Excess electricity generated in summer can be stored as formic acid and converted back into hydrogen during periods of high demand.
According to a lifecycle analysis presented by Oxylum, emissions savings can be achieved by replacing fossil-derived formic acid, most of which is imported from Asia. De Mot pointed out that these emissions savings span extraction, manufacturing, logistics, and even end-of-life product emissions.
Oxylum recently moved beyond lab-scale testing and is now operating containerised pilot plants capable of larger-scale daily production. By 2027, the company aims to launch its first commercial-scale plant producing up to 2,000 tonnes of formic acid annually.
However, the journey to scale from laboratory units to industrial-scale manufacturing remains a challenge. “We cannot do this by ourselves,” De Mot said. “We need to reach out to everyone who can support us. We need partners in every step of the value chain.”
