NExBTL

NExBTL is a renewable diesel production process commercialized by the Finnish oil and refining company Neste Oil. Whether as an admixture or in its pure form, NExBTL is able to supplement or partially replace diesel fuel without problems. Unblended NExBTL meets the requirements set by the European standard CEN EN 590.

Despite the name BTL, the feedstock is vegetable oil, not whole plants.

Process

NExBTL diesel is produced in a patented vegetable oil refining process. Chemically, it entails direct catalytic hydrogenation of plant oils, which are triglycerides, into the corresponding alkanes. The glycerol chain of the triglyceride is hydrogenated to the corresponding C3 alkane, propane — there is no glycerol sidestream. This process removes oxygen from the oil; the diesel is not an oxygenate like traditional transesterified biodiesel. Unlike the yellow transesterified biodiesel, the product is a clear and colorless paraffin, with a good cetane number (85 to 99) and better properties than even petrodiesel. As it is chemically identical to ideal conventional diesel, it requires no modification or special precautions for the engine.

Cloud point

The cloud point (or gel point) can be adjusted from −25ºC to −5ºC (−13ºF to 23ºF) during the manufacturing process, compared to petrodiesel's cloud point range of −23ºC to 4ºC (−10°F to 40°F), which could improve the cloud point of diesel when blended. The cloud point is the temperature when the wax precipitates out of the fuel in the form of small wax crystals, making the fuel cloudy and more difficult to move within the fuel lines and systems of vehicles. The lower the cloud point of a particular fuel is, the more suitable it is in colder environments.

Production

A refinery in Porvoo, Finland was brought online in 2007 at a capacity of 0.17 million tons per year and another is being built at the same facility to open in 2009. Two larger refineries, with annual production of 0.8 million tons both, are being built in Singapore and Rotterdam, to be completed by 2010 and 2011, respectively.

Emissions

Neste has calculated that the use of NExBTL cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 40 to 60 percent, taking into account the entire production and transport chain.

Due to the chemistry of the process, the renewable diesel is pure alkane and contains no aromatics, oxygen or sulfur.

Feedstocks

A mix of palm oil, rapeseed oil, and waste fat from the food industry can be used, and palm oil is the principal (90%) feedstock.^{[citation needed]} However, palm oil may endanger the carbon neutrality of the fuel if forest is cleared to make way for palm plantations. In response to this concern, Neste has joined the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to certify that the palm oil is produced in a carbon-neutral, environmentally responsible manner. Neste purchases most of its palm oil from IOI, but requires a separate production chain for the RSPO-certified palm oil, in order not to create demand for rainforest destruction.

Deforestation would release carbon to the atmosphere, and reduce the overall carbon binding capacity of the land, thus it would be counterproductive with respect to the carbon balance. In 2007, Greenpeace protested the use of palm oil, concluding the potential for deforestation remains. According to Greenpeace, increasing the production of palm oil reduces the available land area, so indirectly generates demand for rainforest destruction, even if the palm oil itself is rainforest-certified. Greenpeace noted RSPO is voluntary organization and claimed government regulation in palm oil producing countries, such as Indonesia, cannot be relied on because of political corruption. Greenpeace also claimed palm oil diesel can actually produce three to 10 times more carbon dioxide emissions than petrodiesel because of the indirect effects of clearing of swamps, forest fires and indirect generation of demand for land area. Greenpeace demands that Neste should use domestic feedstocks such as rapeseed oil or biogas, instead. However, rapeseed is a slower-growing, cold-climate source with lesser carbon-binding potential than the oil palm, making emissions from cultivation and transport proportionally more severe.

Neste Oil is continuing to look into new feedstock, including algae, jatropha and microbial oil.

Use

This diesel is blended with petrodiesel and sold in Neste stations. A market is created because the European Union requires 5.75% of transport fuels should be biofuels by 2010. The EU further decided on 18 December, 2008, that by 2020, the share of energy from renewable sources in all forms of transportation be at least 10% of the final consumption of energy. Systems and regions without an electrical grid will be the long-term market for hydrogenated vegetable oils, as the EU prefers electrical use by factor 2.5. In the Helsinki area, the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council and the Helsinki City Transport conducted a three-year experiment by running buses with 25% NExBTL diesel at first, and then switching to 100% in 2008. The trial, which was the largest field test of a biofuel produced from renewable raw materials worldwide, was a success: local emissions were decreased significantly, with particle emissions decreased by 30% and nitrogen oxide emissions by 10%, with excellent winter performance and no problems with catalytic converters.

Germany requires the use of renewable fuel, therefore it is expected to be a major market for NExBTL.^{[citation needed]}

Following a proposal by VDA, Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses recommend the biofuel NExBTL as an admixture to petrodiesel.

See also

• Admixture
• BTL (biomass-to-liquid).
• Green diesel