The sustainable mobility unit of Italy's Eni and petrochemicals maker LG Chem have teamed up to explore the potential development of a biorefinery in South Korea, the two companies said in a statement on Thursday.
Eni believes biofuels made from vegetable oil, waste cooking
oil and grease will play a key role in decarbonising the truck, aviation and
shipping sectors in the next few years.
The Italian group, which already operates two biorefineries
at home, recently said it also wanted to develop plants in Asia and the United
States.
The new project, which is designed to process around 400,000
tonnes of bio-feedstocks per year, aims to meet growing demand for both
sustainable fuels and plastics produced through low-carbon processes.
It will have the flexibility to process renewable
bio-feedstocks and produce multiple products including sustainable aviation
fuel (SAF), hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), and bio-naphtha.
A final decision for the investment is scheduled to be made
by next year and the plant is set to be completed by 2026 at LG Chem's existing
integrated petrochemical complex in Daesan, southwest Seoul.
Eni will provide the South Korean biorefinery with
sustainable feedstock mainly sourced from waste and residue from the processing
of vegetable oils, used cooking oil, and also vegetable oils from
drought-resistant crops.
The Italian group recently signed several agreements with
African and Asian countries to develop farming ventures able to produce these
crops in degraded, semi-arid or abandoned soils not used for food production.