Sweden firms to develop tall oil-based 2G biodiesel

12 June 2008 12:30  [Source: ICIS news]

STOCKHOLM (ICIS news)--Sweden's pulp producer Sodra and oil refiner Preem have joined forces to produce second-generation biodiesel by buying into Sunpine, they said on Wednesday.

Swedish company Sunpine will produce an intermediate for second-generation pine diesel from tall oil, a by-product from the production of kraft pulp, at a facility in Pitea from the beginning of 2010.

Initial capacity would be a modest 100,000 cubic metres/year, which would cover the requirements of 100,000 diesel vehicles.

Tall oil would first be cleaned of substances such calcium and sodium before being methylated using biomethanol derived from the pulp industry.

This results in a raw material for pine diesel which would be fed into the hydrogenation part of the diesel production line at Preem's refinery.

"The product is a synthetic diesel that allows for blending into fossil diesel up to 30%," said Lars Stigsson, the founder and largest shareholder of Sunpine.

State-owned Sveaskog, Sweden¹s largest forest owner, has also bought into Sunpine.

"Now the ownership covers the whole chain from the forest to the diesel pump. This gives us a platform to develop into other forest based biodiesel sources," Lars Stigsson said, without disclosing what these sources might be.

Tall oil resources are limited and used for example by Arizona Chemicals, which distills tall oil into raw materials for paints, glues and soap.

Arizona said competition for tall oil would affect prices and erode profitability.

Although Arizona would compete for its tall oil requirements, political decision makers might distort the market by favouring production of biofuels instead of other valuable materials, said Per Lundman, head of its facility in Sandarne, Sweden.

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By: Sverker Nyman
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