Future raw materials

In addition to expanding the sourcing volumes of the waste and residues we already have in our raw material portfolio, we are working on diversifying our portfolio with emerging, even lower-quality wastes and residues (including raw materials from EU RED II Annex IX A list) and developing our pretreatment capacity to enable their use.

These raw materials include, for example:

Acid oils: Free fatty acids derived from refining processes of a variety of vegetable oils, for example. Neste is currently developing a supply of acid oils originating from the vegetable oil refining process, such as refining of soybean oil. 

Brown grease: Refers to fats, oils and grease removed from wastewater. Grease trap fat is removed from grease traps, which are commonly found in restaurants, while sewage sludge is a remainder of the wastewater treatment process. 

Advanced pretreatment processes and the use of the proprietary NEXBTL technology make it possible for Neste to convert low-quality raw materials like acid oils and brown grease into high-quality renewable products, but on a global scale, the use of these materials requires substantial investment in additional research and development. 

Regenerative farming practices aim to trap carbon in healthier soils, promote biodiversity and reduce emissions from agriculture, while increasing farm productivity. 

As part of our efforts to develop new sustainable sources of renewable raw materials, Neste is exploring the potential of regenerative agricultural concepts to produce additional biomass. Neste focuses on concepts, such as intermediate cropping, which do not create additional demand for agricultural land. 

We have launched over 60  field studies across the globe, working together with farmers, other value chain partners and research institutions. We have been studying  a variety of crops and regenerative agriculture management practices, for both annuals and perennials, to identify most promising concepts for scale-up.

• Neste has been active in studying lignocellulosics as a potential raw material as well as lignocellulose conversion technologies for a long time, for over a decade.

• Vast amounts of waste and residues from existing forest industry and agricultural production remain underutilized and could be leveraged as valuable renewable raw materials.

• The structural parts of plants, including trees, are made of a complex mixture of carbohydrate polymers, called lignocellulose. These are the most abundant natural polymers found on earth. These polymers, cellulose, lignin, hemicellulose as well as the huge variety of extracts in plants, offer excellent replacement for fossil raw materials for making fuels, chemicals and materials.

• Hydrogen is used in large quantities in many industries, e.g. oil refineries to process fuels. A common way to produce hydrogen has been to produce it from natural gas and water in high temperatures, which leads to carbon dioxide emissions.

• Renewable hydrogen is produced by electrolysis, where hydrogen is processed from water using renewable electricity, such as wind or solar, by splitting water molecules.

• Currently, around 95% of all hydrogen is made of fossil natural gas, which leads to significant GHG emissions. Renewable (green) hydrogen is almost emission-free and that is why it holds a massive potential to help meet our rising energy demand and contribute to global climate goals.