Shell invests in one of Europe’s biggest biofuel facility
08:49, 17 September 2021
Royal Dutch Shell has made a final investment decision to build an 820,000-tonnes-a-year biofuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam, the Netherlands or formerly known as the Pernis refinery, to meet emission reduction target by 2050.
The Rotterdam biofuels facility is expected to start production in 2024 the company announced on 16 September. It will produce low-carbon fuels from waste, such as used cooking oil, waste animal fat and other industrial and agricultural residual products. Shell stressed that the facility will not use virgin palm oil as feedstock.
“A range of certified sustainable vegetable oils, such as rapeseed, will supplement the waste feedstocks until even more sustainable advanced feedstocks are widely available,” the company said in the press release.
Carbon capture
Once built, the facility will be among the biggest of such facilities in Europe to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel made from waste.
The company said the facility could produce enough renewable diesel to avoid 2.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year or the equivalent of taking more than one million European cars off the roads.
The facility is expected to use technology to capture carbon emissions from the manufacturing process and store them in an empty gas field beneath the North Sea through the Porthos project. A final investment decision for Porthos is expected next year.
Sustainable aviation fuel
SAF could make up more than half of the 820,000-tonnes-a-year capacity, with the rest being renewable diesel. However, the fuel mix can be adjusted to meet customer demand, the company said.
SAF currently accounts for 0.1% of global aviation.
Shell has set a target of beconing a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050. It aims to reduce the production of traditional fuels by 55% by 2030.
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