Neste commits to new initiatives

Neste Oil has made a commitment to two new initiatives involving both biofuel and renewable diesel.  An aviation fuel initiative has been launched by the European Commission in conjunction with Airbus, European airlines and European biofuel producers to create an industry-wide initiative to commercialize aviation biofuels in Europe.  The new program is called the “European Advanced Biofuels Flighpath,” which has set as its goal to produce annually two million tons of sustainably produced biofuel for aviation use by 2020.  The plan sets major milestones to reach this goal.  In addition to committing to this initiative, Neste Oil is pledging to continue its research into using algae oil for feedstock for producing NExBTL renewable diesel.  The company will take part in two scheduled research projects in the Netherlands and Australia.  Markku Patajoki, with Neste Oil’s Biotechnology Group, states, “Our goal is to expand the range of raw materials we use for producing NExBTL renewable diesel, and algae represent one of the most promising materials here because of their excellent potential oil yields.  The key practical challenge lies in scaling up output to industrial volumes, and we hope these two new projects will result in new ways of overcoming this challenge.” (June 24, 2011)