Europe’s first microbial oil pilot plant Neste Oil has completed the first ...

Europe’s first microbial oil pilot plant Neste Oil has completed the first phase of its project to build a pilot plant for producing microbial oil. Construction of the plant is on-schedule and on-budget. The first phase will enable the growth of oil-producing micro-organisms, and the following phases will concentrate on raw material pretreatment and oil recovery. The goal is to develop the technology so that it is capable of yielding commercial volumes of microbial oil for use as a feedstock for NExBTL renewable diesel. Commercial-scale production is expected by 2015 at the earliest. The pilot plant is expected to be fully complete in 2H2012 and represents an investment of some €8mn by Neste Oil. The company has carried out research in the field and has applied for a number of patents covering its microbial oil technology. A number of partners have been involved in this work, including Aalto University. Microbial oil technology represents an attractive option, both because of its efficiency and its sustainability. ‘Our microbial oil pilot plant is the first in the field in Europe, and Finnish research in the area is among the most advanced worldwide,’ says Petri Lehmus, Neste Oil’s Vice President, Research and Development. The technology is designed to produce feedstock for NExBTL renewable diesel by using yeast and fungi to convert sugars from waste and residues into oil highly efficiently. It utilises bioreactors similar to those used in the biotech and brewing industries. A wide range of different waste and residue materials can be used, such as straw and sidestreams from the pulp and paper industry, which makes it possible to optimise feedstock usage very effectively. ‘Extending our feedstock base is a central component of our cleaner traffic strategy,’ continues Lehmus, ‘and our aim is to focus on making use of waste and residues with the smallest possible carbon footprint in producing our renewable fuels. The new microbial oil pilot plant will make a very valuable contribution to achieving these goals.’