Neste Oil uses tall oil pitch to produce traffic fuel
Neste Oil Corporation
Press release
4 April 2013 at 9 a.m. (EET)
Neste Oil uses tall oil pitch to produce traffic fuel
Neste Oil is the first company in the world to begin using tall oil pitch as a feedstock for refining into traffic fuel. Up until now, it has not been possible to use tall oil pitch, a residue produced by tall oil refiners, as a commercial-scale feedstock for fuel refining purposes.
Neste Oil successfully tested tall oil pitch in commercial refinery operations in March-April this year and is now ready to begin using it on a continuous basis. Fuel refined from tall oil pitch will be distributed to service stations in Finland this spring.
The use of tall oil pitch as a traffic fuel feedstock has been made possible by innovative work carried out by Neste Oil's R&D teams. Neste Oil's original pioneering inventions and patents covering the use of tall oil as a biofuel feedstock date back to the 1990s. Neste Oil aims to use significant quantities of tall oil pitch in the future. Tall oil refiners in Finland produce around 100,000 tons of by-product tall oil pitch annually.
"Thanks to our research work, we have been able to use tall oil pitch fractions in refining operations for some time; and the recent trial run has now shown that we have the capability to make use of this material on a large-scale basis," says Dr. Lars Peter Lindfors, Neste Oil's Senior Vice President, Technology. "This represents a further step in our strategy of extending our feedstock base and increasing our use of waste and residues."
Neste Oil doubled its use of waste- and residues-based inputs in 2012, and the volume of renewable diesel refined from these materials was equivalent to the annual fuel consumption of some 740,000 cars last year, assuming that 100% renewable diesel is used.
Neste Oil is currently the world's only biofuel supplier capable of producing premium-quality renewable diesel on an industrial scale from more than 10 different types of feedstocks. Neste Oil is steadily increasing its use of waste and residues and focusing its research on other non-food inputs and raw materials that can reduce the amount of land needed for energy-related use and significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Neste Oil Corporation
Kaisa Lipponen
Director, Corporate Communications
Further information:
Dr. Lars Peter Lindfors, Senior Vice President, Technology, tel. +358 (0)50 458 3605
Additional information on Neste Oil's use of renewable inputs can be found in the 2012 Annual Report.
Neste Oil in brief
Neste Oil Corporation is a refining and marketing company concentrating on low-emission, high-quality traffic fuels. The company produces a comprehensive range of major petroleum products and is the world's leading supplier of renewable diesel. Neste Oil had net sales of EUR 17.9 billion in 2012 and employs around 5,000 people, and is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.
Neste Oil is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the Ethibel Pioneer Investment Register, and has featured in The Global 100 list of the world's most sustainable corporations for many years. Forest Footprint Disclosure (FFD) has ranked Neste Oil as one of the best performers in the oil & gas sector. Further information: www.nesteoil.com