Old frying fat gets a new life at Eemshaven

By Elcke Vels

It will be some time before road and water transport in Europe runs entirely on sustainable fuels or electricity. To bridge the transition period from fossil to sustainable freight transport, fuel producer Eco Fuels in Eemshaven has developed a procedure: Used cooking oil is converted into biodiesel there. “We achieve a CO2 reduction of 90 percent, and bring that down even further in the future,” says Aart van Eekelen, COO of Bio Oil Group, Eco Fuels’ parent company.

The electric car has been on the rise in recent years. But unlike passenger cars, it remains difficult to fully electrify freight transport. After all, trucks have to travel long distances with a lot of weight. A battery that has to be recharged every few hundred kilometers is inefficient. Although innovations in battery technology and developments in the field of hydrogen, among other things, are promising for tomorrow’s freight transport, a solution is also needed in the short term to achieve climate objectives.

One solution for the short term can be biodiesel, Eco Fuels shows. The fuel producer developed a procedure in the Eemshaven in Groningen in which the biologically active substance methanol is used to convert various forms of used cooking oil into biofuel. Currently, only 40% of frying and kitchen fats are collected and processed in Europe. “So we have found a nice new application,” said van Eekelen.

The company collects old frying fat in several countries in Europe and Africa, including Romania, Austria, and Egypt. “At the locations themselves, we pre-treat the frying fat. Then further processing takes place, including in Eemshaven, to make biodiesel from it.” Eventually, Eco Fuels’ biodiesel finds its way to the pump, so trucks can fill their tanks with it. “We are one of the producers of the biodiesel component that is processed in the B7 fuel. The seven stands for a blending of biofuel by seven percent.”

New pilot project in Eemshaven makes raw materials from plastic fishing nets

Two circular initiatives are starting in Eemshaven, Groningen in the Netherlands. In one of the pilots, together with Bek & Verburg and Groningen Seaports, Impact … Continued

By diluting fossil fuels with biofuels, a significant CO2 reduction takes place, up to about 90 percent. Eventually, it should be possible to reduce the CO2 emissions released during the production of biodiesel even further, Van Eekelen thinks. In particular, collaboration with other companies in Eemshaven plays a key role in this. “Part of our CO2 emissions are currently still in the energy we need for our production process. We plan to become more sustainable in the years to come by (re)using the residual heat or the sustainable energy sources of other companies at Eemshaven. Many companies here have a surplus of energy. We are in talks with various parties to see how we can apply this energy in our operations.”

With the European ‘Fit for 55‘ target, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by at least 55% by 2030. “In the Netherlands and Europe, we are now working hard to give substance to this,” says Van Eekelen. “You see that the biofuels industry has become a mature industry. In 2010, many of the companies involved were still in the pilot phase. Currently, you can see that more and more large fuel producers are betting on biofuels.” In 2021, Eco Fuels also boosted the production capacity of biodiesel at Eemshaven to 160,000 tons per year, making a substantial contribution.

At least until 2040, part of road transport will still be using diesel. Increasing the blending percentage of biodiesel at the pump, from seven to ten percent, for example, will make a significant difference in the bridging period. “Eventually we will move to electric transport with zero emissions. But I would say: be smart, change the legislation and raise the percentage. That way you ensure a positive impact in the short term.”  

This is therefore one reason why the Dutch Biodiesel from Waste Alliance (NBAA) was launched in 2021. Biodiesel producers active in the Netherlands and some European industry associations are joining forces to, among other things, increase this blending requirement. On the 4th of July, this will be discussed with State Secretary Heijnen of Infrastructure and Water Management.