Singapore inaugurates the largest biodiesel plant in the world

It can produce 800,000 tons of fuel from palm oil and animal fat.

KUALA LUMPUR .- The Finnish oil company Neste Oil opened the largest biodiesel production plant in the world with an investment of more than 800 million dollars, local media reported Monday.

The plant has a capacity to produce 800,000 tons of biodiesel from palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia as well as animal fat, which will export to markets in Europe, Canada and the United States.

Neste Oil's president, Matti Lievonen, said that despite its rapid growth, Asian countries will not pose a major market for biofuel.

Neste Oil chose Singapore as the third largest oil refining center in the world and it is located in the main world producer of palm oil.

The Finnish company has developed its own technology to produce next-generation biofuel, called NExBTL, which allows using raw material any vegetable or animal fat.

NExBTL Biodiesel has a higher quality than fossil fuels and, in addition to being renewable, emits between 40 and 60 percent fewer greenhouse gases than these.

Environmental groups have accused the oil palm industry in Malaysia and Indonesia to accelerate the deforestation of the rainforests of Borneo and Java and endanger species like the orangutan and the Javan rhinoceros.

However, Neste Oil said that Germany has been certified ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification), which ensures that meet a stringent environmental regulations.

The company said it spent 80 percent of their research to the production of biofuel from algae and microbes that can be raised in a completely sustainable.

In 2007, Neste Oil opened its first biodiesel plant in Porvoo NExBTL (Finland), with a capacity of 170,000 tons annually.

Source: EMOL