Portfolio Spotlight: SYNCRAFT — Turning Wood Into Power, Permanence & Negative Emissions
This series highlights the companies Carbon Drawdown Initiative has invested in.
What if a powerplant didn’t just avoid emissions but actively removed carbon from the atmosphere while producing clean energy? SYNCRAFT has been working toward that reality for more than a decade.
Founded in 2009 as a spin-off from Management Center Innsbruck, SYNCRAFT builds Reversepowerplants that convert regional energy wood into renewable electricity, heat, Green Gas, and Green Carbon (also known as Biochar). Roughly 30 percent of the CO₂ absorbed by trees becomes permanently stored in Green Carbon when used in soil, construction materials, or industrial processes, where it substitutes fossil coke rather than acting as long-term carbon storage. The result is climate-neutral energy paired with long-lived carbon sequestration – a model that transforms biomass from a fuel into an energy-and-removal system.
What They’re Building
SYNCRAFT develops and manufactures Reversepowerplants that convert regional energy wood into renewable energy, Green Gas, and Green Carbon. The technology is built around a patented floating fixed-bed gasifier that turns solid biomass into a clean, energy-rich gas and a stable carbon-rich solid.
What sets the system apart is how deliberately it optimizes all three outputs. Standard biomass systems often waste a large share of the embedded energy. In SYNCRAFT’s plants, the energy utilization of the biomass reaches the high-90% range – referring specifically to the share of the wood’s energy content that is captured as useful heat, electricity, and gas. This is close to theoretical best-case performance for an energy system.
Separately, the Green Carbon produced in the process preserves roughly 30% of the biogenic carbon originally stored in the wood, locking it into a solid form that becomes a long-term or permanent carbon sink when used in soils or construction materials, or displaces fossil coke in industrial applications – avoiding emissions rather than storing carbon.
This is the foundation of SYNCRAFT’s climate-positive energy model: producing reliable heat and power while simultaneously removing carbon from the atmosphere.
Leadership
SYNCRAFT is led by CEO and co-founder Marcel Huber, who has built the company for nearly 17 years while also serving on several European bio-energy and district-heating boards. His background blends engineering, biomass systems, and long-term industry development.
COO Benedikt Bodner brings deep expertise in powerplant construction, technical procurement, and bio-energy research. Having progressed from engineering roles into operations leadership, he anchors the daily performance and technical reliability of SYNCRAFT’s plants.
Recent Milestones
The past year brought several major advances:
The world’s first hotel Reversepowerplant opened at the Stanglwirt, demonstrating how hospitality energy systems can move from efficiency toward climate-positive operation.
A combined BCR and BECCS system was delivered with Energiewerke Ilg. The newly installed CCS unit captures up to 90 percent of the CO₂ stream entering the capture system – not 90 percent of plant-wide emissions – marking one of the earliest commercial integrations of biochar carbon removal with carbon capture and storage.
SYNCRAFT and the Josef Ressel Center at MCI Innsbruck received the Energy Globe Austria Award for developing a Green-Carbon-based method that removes pharmaceutical residues, pesticides, and microplastics from water streams.
SYNCRAFT became one of the first plant manufacturers certified as an Endorsed System Provider by Carbon Standards International. Their Green Carbon now fulfills REACH, the European Biochar Certificate, and C-Sink criteria.
These milestones reflect a company simultaneously scaling its technology and shaping higher standards for verifiable carbon removal. Just as importantly, they build on a track record that is rare in the sector: SYNCRAFT has already constructed dozens of plants that operate reliably in the field, on time, and on budget.
What’s Next
SYNCRAFT’s next chapter focuses on three priorities.
The first is expanding into the United States, where interest in carbon-negative systems and high-quality biochar is increasing quickly.
The second is scaling to larger installations. A major plant in Austria is planned for 2026, designed for about 6,000 tonnes of negative emissions per year and 2 MW of electrical output.
The third is broadening the commercial uses of Green Carbon. Early pathways include steelmaking, climate-friendly concrete, water purification, and integration into building materials. Further applications are under evaluation as the company advances its combined BCR and BECCS pathway.
Why We Back SYNCRAFT
At Carbon Drawdown Initiative, we support companies that deliver real negative emissions, work in the field, and can scale meaningfully. SYNCRAFT fits this profile precisely.
Across a large and growing portfolio, SYNCRAFT stands out as one of the few teams that has moved beyond pilots into real, repeatable deployment. With more than 40 Reversepowerplants already built, the company is producing thousands of tonnes of carbon removal per plant while delivering dependable renewable energy.
Their Reversepowerplants generate dependable energy, create regional circularity, and lock away carbon in a form validated by some of the most rigorous certification systems in Europe. The leadership team brings years of applied engineering and a clear view of how to operate climate-positive power plants in real-world settings.
In combination: high energy utilization, solid carbon retention via biochar, and optional CO₂ capture upgrades make SYNCRAFT’s system one of the most complete “energy + removals” platforms on the market.
SYNCRAFT is not proposing climate-positive energy as a concept. They are operating it today.
Learn more about SYNCRAFT: https://www.syncraft.at/en/
