Neste Oil and the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) have agreed on a €50-million (US$70.4-million) loan to fund further research on extending the range of raw materials used for producing Neste Oil’ renewable diesel NExBTL. Expanding the company’s feedstock base is an important strategic goal for Neste Oil.
The loan will be used to fund existing research programs and Neste Oil’s research infrastructure and will not increase Neste Oil’s annual R&D expenditure. Neste Oil has invested around €40 million annually in R&D in recent years, of which around 80% has gone on research into renewable raw materials and technology for refining these inputs.
The loan underlines our commitment to research on renewable raw materials. The additional funding that it will provide will secure the continuation of our cutting-edge R&D work and the future development of our NExBTL renewable diesel technology.
—Neste Oil’s Senior Vice President, Technology and Strategy, Lars Peter Lindfors
Neste Oil’s R&D focus is primarily on nonfood materials and inputs that can help reduce the amount of land used for energy purposes and ensure a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Good progress has recently been made in research into microbial and algae oil and the use of wood-based biomass, the company says.
Neste Oil’s NExBTL technology can make use of virtually any vegetable oil or animal fat to produce premium-quality renewable diesel. NExBTL renewable diesel produced from all the raw materials currently used by Neste Oil offers over 50% lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil diesel. This figure covers the product’s entire life cycle from raw material production to end-use.