28.11.2025 | Case story
The Danish company uses pyrolysis to turn biomass into fuels and biochar, which simultaneously enrich soil and sequester carbon. Nefco has provided funding for its international expansion in India.
Agriculture is one of the most polluting industries. Since 2000, greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture have grown 40 per cent in Africa and 25 per cent in Asia, exacerbated by practices such as burning crop residues. The Danish company MASH Makes has developed a circular solution that takes agricultural biomass and turns it into biofuel and soil-enriching biochar, all while sequestering carbon. Nefco has provided funding for it to build commercial plants in India.
“Our solution relies on pyrolysis, which is achieved by heating up agricultural sidestreams and residues,” explains Jakob Andersen, CEO and Co-founder of MASH Makes. “We use press cake from leftover cashew nut shells to create biofuel and biochar.”
The concept was born at the Technical University of Denmark, and the company was founded in 2015. Heating organic matter without the presence of oxygen breaks down the molecules into smaller components that can be used for other purposes – Andersen uses the analogy of cracking apart a big Lego castle to reuse the blocks.
Biochar enriches soil and sequesters carbon
“One of the outputs of pyrolysis is biochar, which is great for water and nutrient retention, particularly in arid, semi-arid and degraded soils,” Andersen continues. “We have been studying one plot for six seasons and have seen amazing improvements in soil quality. In the second year, the region experienced a bad drought. Crop yield fell nearly three times as much in the control plot compared to the biochar-enriched plot. This is important in a world where famers are struggling and droughts are becoming more common due to climate change.”
Søren Berg Rasmussen, Investment Manager at Nefco, points out that biochar is stable and can stay in the soil for years, making it a good method for sequestering carbon.
“If you burn biomass to release the energy, you also release the carbon,” he explains. “Using biochar as a soil additive keeps the carbon in the ground. Using biochar as a method of carbon sequestration could be very valuable as carbon markets develop.”
Exactly how long biochar can sequester carbon is unclear and probably depends upon the source materials and local conditions. One study found pyrogenic carbon from natural wildfires could last in soil for thousands of years, so biochar could be a major tool for mitigating climate change.
Biofuel replaces fossil fuels
The other output of MASH Makes’ solution is biofuel. In early 2025, a DS Norden ship made a roundtrip between Singapore and Brazil using a fuel blend comprised of 20 per cent MASH Makes biofuel in its auxiliary engine. Replacing fossil fuels in hard-to-abate industries like shipping is critical to achieving global climate goals.
“Currently the world is not producing enough biofuel,” Rasmussen says, “which could potentially solve many problems for the shipping industry. They need a reliable source of biodiesel, and MASH Makes’ solution could offer economic and sustainability benefits for them.”
Other investors are encouraged by Nefco’s involvement
Nefco provided an initial EUR 1.75 million loan to MASH Makes in 2022, which was matched by other investors. This funding helped to accelerate the establishment of the company’s first commercial plant in India. Nefco extended a new EUR 2 million loan in 2024 to support the construction of a second commercial pyrolysis facility near the first.
“Our solution is containerised,” Andersen says. “Our first machine was small, fitting inside a 20-foot container. We are now developing a larger system that has more than ten times the capacity.”
The output of pyrolysis is dependent upon the input. MASH Makes’ current system has been optimised to use press cake from cashew shells and would not produce the same outputs with other feedstock. However, it is now developing a process that uses gasification, a process that turns biomass into gases for fuel. It could theoretically use practically any biomass as an input.
Andersen is optimistic about the future and is glad about his company’s long-term relationship with Nefco.
“We are very happy with Nefco. Nefco’s involvement helped encourage others to invest in our solution, showcasing how its support can help Nordic companies.”
Jakob Andersen, CEO and Co-founder of MASH Makes
Text: David Cord
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