The Chemical Industry Innovation Award Given To Neste Oil's Biodiesel Technolog
Neste Oil Corporation has developed a technology that enables high-quality biodiesel fuel to be produced from vegetable oil and animal fat. The process uses innovative chemistry and industrial process sidestreams to generate a premium product in demand in the marketplace. The first production plant to be based on the new technology will be completed at Neste Oil's Porvoo refinery in summer 2007.
Neste Oil Corporation's proprietary technology has been recognized by the Finnish Chemical Industry Innovation Award for 2006. The Award will be handed to the key members of the team behind the technology at a forum organized by the Chemical Industry Federation of Finland in Helsinki on April 25.
The technology team includes Senior Associate Pekka Aalto, Technical Manager Johan Grönqvist, Plant Engineer Elina Harlin, Manager, Research and Development ! Juha Jakkula, Business Development Manager Raimo Linnaila, Associate Jukka Myllyoja, Project Manager Jouko Nikkonen, and Process Design Engineer Pekka Savolainen.
Neste Oil has responded to the challenge posed by the European Union's target of biofuels accounting for 5.75% of traffic fuel usage in the EU by 2010 by developing its NExBTL technology for producing diesel fuel from renewables.
The process can make use of a wide range of inputs, such as vegetable oils and animal fats produced as industrial byproducts. The process makes efficient use of these materials and results in a product that can be used as such in existing vehicles or blended with current fuels. The high-quality biodiesel fuel produced by the NExBTL process also contributes to reduced particulate and NOx emissions in vehicle exhausts.
The unique aspects of Neste Oil's technology, and the fact that it does not yet have a direct competitor, were decisive factors in the deci! sion by the Scientific Advisory Board of the Chemical Industry to gran t this year's Innovation Award to Neste Oil. The Scientific Advisory Board also underlined the advance in production-related technology represented by NExBTL and the success of the chemistry and process know-how behind it in using industrial sidestreams.
The production process developed by Neste Oil and the product it produces has considerable market potential, although it is dependent on sufficient quantities of suitable raw materials existing. It is estimated that it could be used to produce a major part of the biocomponent needed to meet the EU's diesel fuel requirement. The first production plant employing the new technology is under construction at Porvoo, and Neste Oil is currently negotiation the possibility of building new joint plants based on NExBTL in France and Austria.
The Chemical Industry Innovation Award is granted every other year in recognition of major innovations in the field that can be applied industrially. The Award includes a p! rize sum of €20,000. The Board of the Chemical Industry Federation of Finland introduced the Innovation Award in 1997, at the initiative of the Scientific Advisory Board, a body addressing scientific and technological questions and comprising representatives of the Finnish chemical industry, universities, and research institutes.
The goal of the Innovation Award is to encourage research-based, innovative activities and to promote the commercialization of new innovations, as well as the emergence of new business in the chemicals field. The Award can be granted to a person, a team, or an enterprise that has introduced a promising chemical innovation that can be exploited industrially or that has already been implemented. Activities carried out at universities, research institutes, and in companies are all eligible for the Award.
SOURCE: Neste Oil Corporation