Tesoro to support development of renewable biocrude for its refineries; Fulcrum, Virent, Ensyn partners
22 January 2016
Tesoro Corporation plans to foster the development of biocrude, made from renewable biomass, which can be co-processed in its existing refineries along with conventional fossil crude oil to produce lower-carbon drop-in fuels.
Tesoro expects that converting renewable biomass into biocrude will enable existing refining assets to produce fuels with lower carbon intensities (CIs) at a significantly lower capital and operating cost than competing technologies. This could lower Tesoro’s compliance costs with the federal renewable fuel standard (RFS) and California’s low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) by generating credits, while producing fuels fully compatible with the nation’s existing fuel infrastructure as well as current vehicle fleet warranties.
In order to support the development of biocrude, Tesoro is working collaboratively with several renewable energy companies to advance biomass-to-fuels technology, including:
Fulcrum BioEnergy, Inc.: Fulcrum plans to supply biocrude produced from municipal solid waste to Tesoro Refining & Marketing Company LLC (TRMC) to process as a feedstock at its Martinez, California Refinery. An estimated 800 barrels of biocrude per day will be produced at Fulcrum’s Sierra BioFuels Plant in Reno, Nevada, which is expected to be operational in early 2018.
Virent, Inc.: Tesoro and Virent are working to establish a strategic relationship to support scale-up and commercialization of Virent’s BioForming technology which produces low-carbon, biofuel and chemicals.
Ensyn Corporation: Ensyn has applied for a pathway with the California Air Resources Board to co-process its biocrude, produced from tree residue—called Renewable Fuel Oil—in TRMC’s California refineries. (Earlier post.)
Tesoro Corporation, a Fortune 100 company, is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products. Tesoro, through its subsidiaries, operates six refineries in the western United States with a combined capacity of more than 875,000 barrels per day and ownership in a logistics business which includes an interest in Tesoro Logistics LP and ownership of its general partner.
Tesoro’s retail-marketing system includes more than 2,200 retail stations under the ARCO, Shell, Exxon, Mobil, USA Gasoline and Tesoro brands.
I would rather have this than tar sands.
Posted by: SJC | 22 January 2016 at 02:20 PM
Please invent something better and CHEAPER than current petroleum gas at the pump so i gonna be able to fuel my car for a lesser price. Is it clear now, also clean the sewage instead of releasing it into rivers and lakes.
Posted by: gorr | 27 January 2016 at 08:46 AM