Neste’s Renewable Diesel Straddles New Markets

Biodiesel has proven cleaner than conventional diesel, but renewable diesel is cleaner yet. Like biodiesel, it’s made mainly from cooking oils, fats, and grease; but it requires no blending; so100% of this pure hydrocarbon fuel can be directly dropped into diesel engines, while biodiesel must be mixed with other fuels and at only up to about 20%. This is largely why oil majors like Shell, Chevron, and bp are moving to this alternative fuel.   But even municipalities, transportation fleets, and the agriculture sector are buying in—at least they are among the customers of Finnish oil and refining company Neste. 

Neste, who has more than 1,400 delivery points across California and Oregon, is gearing up to expand its supply chain, geographic reach, and types of feedstock.

With refineries in Finland, the Netherlands, and Singapore, the company produces one billion gallons of renewal products yearly, and in 2023 will ramp up production in Singapore to boost capacity to 1.5 billion gallons.

“We will need to acquire different feedstocks to fulfill that expansion,” says Tim Wang, head of Sales, Neste U.S. Renewable Road Transports, who says prospects are growing for its renewable alternative, which he says generates 75% less greenhouse gas emissions than fossil-derived diesel over its lifecycle. 

“In the meantime, we are getting inquiries in New Mexico, New York, and Colorado. They are more forward looking, so we are looking to potentially go into those states. We’re also looking at Canada and South America and anywhere with that demand for renewable diesel,” he says.

For now, Neste uses mainly used cooking oil, animal fats, waste fish fats, and vegetable oils from restaurants, stadiums, and airports. With its subsidiary, used cooking oil recycling company Mahoney Environmental, the company collects from over 40,000 venues. And it’s just closed on the acquisition of Agri Trading, one of the largest independent renewable waste and residue fat and oil traders in the United States.

Neste’s core technology leverages two primary processes: hydrotreatment and isomerization, which yield a clean-burning fuel with similar chemical composition as fossil diesel from various raw materials.

Hydrotreating, which leverages high temperature, high pressure, and catalyst material, turns feedstocks into renewable diesel hydrocarbons while removing impurities.

Isomerization is a second step that allows precise engineering of some of the fuel's performance characteristics. Specifically, it enables the shape of the hydrocarbon molecule to be altered to provide better properties. 

Neste’s current offtake partners are mainly businesses. The company goes through channel partners with a local presence; Wang says they have a better understanding of clients and a better understanding of what’s necessary for effective logistics.

Northern Sacramento County, Calif.-based Twin Rivers Unified School District is one of those off takers.

The district has 53 school sites, and all its buses are either electric, powered by renewable natural gas, compressed natural gas, or renewable diesel. The 75 buses that run on renewable diesel have resulted in a reduction in CO2 emissions of over 523 metric tons since October 2020, which is equal impact to planting 8,648 trees.

“We want renewable in order to have a continuous cycle of sustainability; it helps reduce waste in landfill and oils in the watershed. So, it’s a positive push for the environment, especially for our students’ learning and living environments,” says Tim Shannon, Twin Rivers Unified School District director, Facilities Planning Efficiency, and Transportation. 

“It’s cleaner, less expensive and it’s a pour-over fuel that requires no engine retrofits, meaning it’s an easy add; we can put it right in our tank. So, making that business decision was a no brainer,” he says.

Twin Rivers Unified School District cleans exhaust pipe filters with just over half the frequency as before because the engines spew less particulates.

And the renewable diesel is cheaper by the gallon. When the district went to bid, conventional diesel was $3.49 to $3.59 a gallon in its region; versus $3.27 a gallon for Neste’s product at the time. Shannon says renewable is still in the low threes, while conventional diesel has increased to about $4.49 (as of the first week in November).

“Moving to renewable diesel is a simple switch. And if you can’t fund electric vehicles now, it’s a perfect alternative to do something better,” he says.

Cherokee Freight Lines, a Northern California trucking company, switched its fleet of more than 200 trucks to run on Neste’s renewable diesel.

“Overall, the trucks are running better than before. With the combination of Neste MY Renewable Diesel and our new equipment, we have seen an improvement in fuel economy,” says Art Cortez, the operation’s shop foreman.

Neste has expanded beyond renewable diesel for trucks and buses.

It’s Renewable Aviation team works with airlines in the U.S. to supply renewable jet fuel. Neste’s aviation fuel is also made from sustainably sourced biomass such as used cooking oil. In North America, Neste is supplying this fuel type to almost all major airlines, including Alaska, American, JetBlue, Southwest, Aeromexico, Air Canada, and Delta. 

With the future in mind, Neste is actively doing R&D into use of forestry waste, municipal solid waste, and algae as feedstock. Wang projects these products are five to 10 years out.

“The demand for renewable diesel is clear as businesses set ambitious goals to reduce their carbon footprint. We will continue expanding our portfolio of renewable raw materials to meet that demand,” Wang says.

“And we have also been piloting the circular economy model with municipalities and other entities by collecting their used cooking oil, converting it into renewable fuels, and ultimately using the fuels to power their equipment. We hope to inspire other cities and businesses to look at using their waste as a resource to cut greenhouse gas emissions.”