Chemrec's technology originated in the mid-1980s with an invention by Jan-Erik Kignell who was awarded the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences' Gold Medal for this feat in 1993.

Kignell sold his black liquor gasification patent to the Swedish rolling bearing company SKF, which steel division worked on gasification in the late 1980s, but concluded that the technology related to black liquor was too far removed from the company's core business, upon which other inventors Nils Bernhard and Lars Stigsson acquired the patents in 1989 and founded Chemrec (an abbreviation of "chemical recovery") to exploit the technology.

When Kvaerner experienced financial difficulties and divested several non-core businesses in 2000 Babcock Borsig (German industrial equipment manufacturing group) acquired a majority position in Chemrec.

In 2013 the Piteå plant was transferred to Luleå University of Technology (LTU) and continued operation until it was mothballed in 2016, waiting for next project funding to be completed.

The Domsjö Biofuel project was during the period 2009-2012 developed by Chemrec in close co-operation with Domsjö Fabriker in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden with the objective of building a new BLG based energy and chemical recovery plant on the site In 2009 the Swedish Energy Agency awarded Chemrec a grant of SEK 500 million (approx.

€350M) industrial scale commercial demonstration Chemrec gasification and biofuels plant at the Domsjö Fabriker biorefinery complex in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.

After having secured €200M, more than half of €350M total project funding, including the €55M grant and €145M pledged by mill owner, EPC contractor and Int.

Oil & Gas major, debt financing of the remaining €150M was prevented mainly due to lenders assessment of political risk.

-The planned next development step is scale up of the pressurized and oxygen blown BLG version to 550 tds/d for implementation of a commercial demonstration plant.

A significant benefit of this system is that it can be installed while the recovery boiler continues to operate, thus avoiding down time and lost production.