New biodiesel production facility in Finland, part of plan to convert only sustainable palm oil to fuel
A small scale biodiesel production facility is now operating in Finland, part of a plan by Finnish oil producer Neste to convert to using only certified sustainable palm oil by 2015.
Neste is already the world’s largest supplier of biodiesel and is now pioneering large scale production of Biomass to Liquid (BtL), using certified sustainable palm oil.
The demonstration facility at Stora Enso Varkaus Mill includes a 12 MW gasifier. It will be used to develop technologies and engineering solutions for a commercial-scale plant. The demonstration process units will cover all stages, including drying of biomass, gasification, gas cleaning and testing of Fischer-Tropsch catalysts.
Neste Oil expects to use at least 50,000 tons of certified palm oil this year, and projects that this figure will rise rapidly in subsequent years. Neste Oil is a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an organisation that brings together palm oil producers, users and NGOs in the interest of promoting the production of sustainable palm oil.