HTU® Industries originated from the collaboration between two experienced scientists, Ir. Jaap Naber and Dr. Ir. Frans Goudriaan. Together, they developed the Hydrothermal Upgrading (HTU®) technology, building on more than a hundred years of international research into the hydrothermal conversion of biomass as a sustainable alternative to fossil raw materials.

The development of HTU® technology has a long and carefully constructed history. The scientific basis was laid in 1910, when the German chemist Friedrich Bergius demonstrated that organic material under high pressure and temperature in water can be converted into energy-rich liquid substances. His work formed the first scientific foundation for what would later become known as hydrothermal conversion. In 1931, Bergius, together with Carl Bosch, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their pioneering work in the field of high-pressure processes.

Since then, research has been conducted worldwide into the application of these principles for the production of liquid energy from biomass.

After the oil crisis of the 1970s, this research received a strong impetus. Within Shell, it was decided to invest on a large scale in alternatives to crude oil in order to reduce dependence on fossil raw materials. Various conversion routes were investigated, including gasification with Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and Hydrothermal Upgrading (HTU®). HTU® quickly proved to be a promising route. The process makes it possible to convert wet biomass — such as wood, peat, or organic residual streams — directly into biocrude, without the energy-intensive drying process that many other technologies require. Experiments under high pressure (150–200 bar) and temperature (300–350 °C) showed that a large part of the oxygen is removed from biomass in the form of water and CO₂, creating an energy-rich product.

In the 1980s, the process was further elaborated, tested in continuous pilots, and economically evaluated. These analyses showed that HTU®, in combination with upgrading via hydrodeoxygenation, could be technically and economically competitive with fossil fuels.

Despite the promising results, development was temporarily halted in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The main reason was the extremely low oil price in that period, which made large-scale further development commercially less attractive. However, the accumulated knowledge, patents, and research results were retained. Social attention to sustainability, environmental protection, and climate change did increase.