Cepsa and Spanish co-op to produce biofuels from waste

Spanish multinational oil and gas company Cepsa has teamed up with Spanish association of co-operatives Agro-Alimentarias to promote biofuel production from agricultural and livestock waste.

As part of the partnership, Cepsa’s research centre would analyse waste from the olive, olive oil, wine and livestock industries to research the potential of processing the raw materials into biofuels, the company said on 25 May.

Meanwhile, Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de España would coordinate contact between the company and the different cooperatives within the association, Cepsa said.

“Moving forward with the energy transition requires collaboration and establishing synergies along the entire value chain. That is why we have reached this agreement … with the aim of identifying new sources of circular raw materials for the production of second-generation biofuels,” Cepsa’s biofuels manager Javier Antúnez said.

Cepsa said the agreement also aimed to facilitate partnerships with co-operatives interested in biomass production using cover crops.

Through its study with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the company said it would be able to identify the most suitable areas and crops for planting. These crops, would generate feedstock to produce 2G biofuels while improving soil quality and increasing rainwater retention capacity, said Cepsa, which has set a target of being the leading 2G biofuels manufacturer in Spain and Portugal by 2030.

Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de España represents more than 3,600 agricultural cooperatives.

Designed

• Enhanced performance on the removal of metal traces and contaminants.

• Specially designed to provide the greatest filtration rates.

• Avoid clogging issues and excessive pressure increases.

• Reduction of feedstock retention.

In Brief

USA: Renewable fuel feedstock producer

Oleo-X has launched a pre-treatment facility for renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) feedstocks, Business Wire reported on 4 May.

The new facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi, had the capacity to produce up to 300M gallons (1.135M litres)/year of feedstock.

Oleo-X’s technology and plant enabled it to process low-carbon, inedible oils – including poultry fat –without blending with high quality oils from the food industry, the report said.

In addition to launching the new facility, Oleo-X announced the appointment of airline fuel executive Sergio Correa, former head of Clean Oil Products at Delta Air Lines, as the company’s new CEO.