Neste Oil adds technical corn oil to NExBTL biodiesel feedstocks
The Finnish refiner Neste Oil has added technical corn oil, a residue generated during ethanol production, to the range of feedstocks it uses to produce its proprietary NExBTL biodiesel, the company announced in a statement.
Technical corn oil does not have use in the human food chain and so counts as an advanced feedstock under the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive and the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard.
“Our strategic aim is to constantly extend the range of renewable feedstocks we use to produce renewable fuels, and in particular the volume of waste- and residue-based materials we use,” said Matti Lehmus, executive vice president, oil products and renewables.
Under a proposal issued by the European Commission in 2012, biodiesel produced using technical corn oil will count up to four times as much toward EU renewables mandates as that produced using conventional vegetable oil feedstocks.
In the U.S., biodiesel from non-food corn oil generates D4 RINs, the same as biodiesel created from vegetable oils, and so does not create any extra value in that sense.
The feedstock corn oil will be sourced from the U.S. Neste can now use more than 10 feedstocks for its NExBTL product, all of which result in products of the same quality, said the company.
Meanwhile, research is ongoing for microbial oil and algae oil.
(July 31, 2013)
