Neste delivers first batch of 100% renewable propane to European market
19 March 2018
Neste has started up the world’s first large-scale renewable propane production facility in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The first cargo of renewable propane has been delivered to SHV Energy, which will market and sell the product to its customers across Europe as BioLPG. Neste’s new facility has a production capacity of 40,000 tonnes per year; SHV Energy will be the exclusive distributor, supplying 160,000 tonnes over four years. (Earlier post.)
BioLPG will enable users of existing fossil fuels to reduce their carbon footprint, without any modifications to existing gas applications technology. BioLPG can be used within a full range of existing LPG applications, from transport and commercial heating to retail leisure cylinders.
SHV Energy is proud to be part of this unique renewable energy project and congratulates Neste on a fantastic engineering achievement. In use, BioLPG will be very low carbon and extremely clean. The biggest environmental contribution that it can make is when it replaces existing high carbon solid and liquid fuels in homes and businesses located beyond the natural gas grid. The mission of all SHV Energy companies is, Advancing Energy Together and this is exactly what BioLPG will mean for the thousands of customers over seven European countries who will start to enjoy the benefits of this new product very soon.
—Fulco van Lede, Management Board Member of SHV Energy
Neste’s Rotterdam refinery primarily produces premium-quality Neste MY Renewable Diesel from various waste and residues as well as vegetable oils. The new unit will purify and separate renewable propane from the sidestream gases produced by the refinery.
Propane-rich off-gas is produced during the NExBTL renewable diesel process; the gas is usually recovered during the Stabilization and Recycle stages of the process.
Usually, the propane off-gas from the Recycle section is used in the steam methane reformer (SMR) plant for the production of hydrogen and the propane off-gas from the Stabilization section is used in a natural gas boiler to raise process steam.
The bio-propane production process increases the added value of this sidestream significantly.
Renewable gasoline, jet fuel and diesel has been possible for a long time.
Posted by: SJC | 19 March 2018 at 09:26 AM
Here's the little detail Neste was hoping you wouldn't notice:
In other words, the propane once used on-site is being replaced by fossil methane so the propane can be sold as "green". It's no greener than it was before.
This process uses bio-based feedstocks but it is totally reliant on fossil fuel both for process heat and as a source of hydrogen to convert oxygenated triglycerides to pure alkanes. We need to do better than this. A lot better.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 19 March 2018 at 04:09 PM
Hmmm, the devil is in the details
Posted by: Bobcom52 | 19 March 2018 at 05:05 PM
Always, Bobcom52. Always.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 19 March 2018 at 08:21 PM
This process has huge limitation and can be produced in large quantities.
Posted by: nirmalkumar | 19 March 2018 at 08:55 PM
Propane is produced as a by-product of two other processes, natural gas processing and petroleum refining. The processing of natural gas involves removal of butane, propane, and large amounts of ethane from the raw gas, in order to prevent condensation of these volatiles in natural gas pipelines.
happy wheels 2
Posted by: mcjones | 12 February 2019 at 03:05 AM