What if cars could be powered by trees?

Key benefits of Lignode®

• Already a scalable model for commercial production
• Raw material is sustainably sourced from certified Nordic forests
• Raw material is renewable - trees grow back
• Lignin-based hard carbon in batteries enables faster charging and discharging of batteries
• Lignin-based hard carbon performs better at low temperatures 

Interested in finding out more? Be sure to download our Lignode® white paper.

Video: Enabling sustainable electrification

A recognised innovation

The revolutionary potential of Lignode® by Stora Enso has already gathered wide attention and been featured in a number of articles. Here are some of the most recent ones: 

• BBC: The promise of batteries that come from wood
• The Independent: Revolutionary battery made from trees
• Stora Enso: In the future, car batteries can be made from trees - this is why EV and battery manufacturers should care
• Stora Enso: The future of fast charge electric car batteries

Lignin — a sustainable raw material 

As a raw material, lignin is:

Sustainable forest management and ensuring the regeneration of forests are not just a trendy topic for us, our entire business depends on them. Our forest management operations expand all the way from planning, planting, and monitoring, to ensure that this renewable raw material does actually grow back after harvesting.

Using FSC® and PEFC™ certified lignin to produce Lignode® means that lignin is one of the only raw materials in the battery industry to have a certificate of origin. By choosing Lignode®, a lignin-based hard carbon, we are helping EV car batteries reach policy-driven environmental goals and a significant marketing advantage.

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One step closer to EVs powered by trees

Stora Enso and Swedish electric car company Polestar have started collaboration to create a truly climate-neutral car by 2030. Stora Enso joins Polestar 0 project as a partner to contribute to the car’s climate neutrality with their bio-based battery material Lignode® by Stora Enso. Read more. 

The battery industry needs new and sustainable raw material alternatives. Being able to replace graphite in lithium-ion batteries with Lignode® by Stora Enso requires innovative partners who want to change the battery industry for the better. Interested? Join us.

Our Sunila pilot plant

Stora Enso’s pilot facility for producing bio-based carbon materials from lignin started operations in summer of 2021, following a EUR 10 million investment announced in 2019. 

The pilot plant for bio-based carbon materials is located at Stora Enso’s Sunila production side in Finland, where lignin has been industrially produced since 2015. The biorefinery’s annual lignin production capacity is 50 000 tonnes, making Stora Enso the largest kraft lignin producer in the world. Read more here. 

From a tree to a battery anode

So how do we really turn trees into battery anode materials? No extra trees need to be cut down, instead, we just ensure that more of a tree is put to good use. 

1.  Lignin is separated from wood during the production process of cellulose fibers. Trees are composed of 20-30% of lignin, where it acts as a natural and strong binder. It is one of the biggest sources of carbon anywhere. Previously, being a side stream of production, lignin was burnt for energy, but now we are ensuring to use its full potential. 
2. The lignin is refined into a fine carbon powder, which serves as an active material for the negative anode of a lithium-ion battery.
3. The hard carbon powder is used to produce electrode sheets and rolls.
4. Finally, the hard carbon electrodes are combined with positive electrodes, separator, electrolytes and other components into a lithium-ion battery.