Malaysia mulls expansion of B10 biodiesel usage to industrial sector

Malaysia is considering expansion of its B10 biodiesel program, which requires the mandatory use of 10% palm oil, to the industrial sector, said Reuters.

Malaysia, the world's second biggest producer of palm oil, currently implements the B10 program only for the transportation sector.

Minister Fadillah Yusof did not say when a decision on the B10 mandate for industrial use would be finalized.

Malaysia has rolled out a B20 program in phases, and the nationwide implementation of that would increase crude palm oil consumption to over 1 million tons per annum, Fadillah said.

A mandate to use biodiesel with 30% palm oil would be implemented by 2025, Fadillah said, reiterating Malaysia's earlier targets.

We remind, Honeywell announced today that Repsol has licensed Honeywell Ecofining technology to produce renewable fuels from feedstocks such as used cooking oil and waste animal fat at Repsol’s facility in Puertollano, Spain. Repsol is designing this plant to convert approximately 240 thousand metric tons per annum (KMTA) of waste feeds/feedstocks to renewable diesel and other products.

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ADNOC announced its Ruwais Refinery has received International Sustainability Carbon Certification for the production of SAF, making it the first company in the Middle East to earn the distinction, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This important milestone underscores ADNOC’s commitment to collaborating with its customers to accelerate their decarbonization journeys.

The ISCC EU/CORSIA PLUS "Co Processing" international certification enables ADNOC to supply its SAF to international airlines at Abu Dhabi Airport. It is produced from used cooking oil feedstock that is blended with jet fuel at ADNOC’s Ruwais Refinery. The first batch, enough to fuel a return 787-10 Dreamliner flight from Abu Dhabi to Paris, will be available later this month.

Sultan Al Bigishi, Acting-CEO of ADNOC Refining, said: “The development of sustainable aviation fuel is a key part of our strategy to deliver lower carbon fuels to our customers. We are committed to supporting the aviation industry’s effort to ramp-up the use of sustainable aviation fuel as one of the key pillars to decarbonize air travel.”

ADNOC Global Trading is responsible for sourcing suitable bio feedstocks from the market into refinery operations. As our face to the market, trading can ramp up these activities to supply global and domestic customers with lower-carbon and more sustainable alternative fuels, products and feedstocks.

We remind, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co has increased its buyout offer for Covestro AG to around 11 billion euros (USD12.3 billion). ADNOC's latest bid values Covestro at about 57 euros per share, the person said, up from a mid-50 euro per share range. Covestro had rejected ADNOC's initial takeover proposal last month, saying the offer was too low. A Covestro spokesperson declined to comment, while ADNOC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

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Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd has established a Sustainable Silicone Business Development Department within its Silicone Division in its Head Office organization, said the company.

The Silicone Division handles silicones which are the core product in its Functional Materials business segment. The Sustainable Silicone Business Development Department will be responsible for the marketing of environmentally friendly silicones products, a development which is part of the Yen 100 bn investment in its silicones business announced on 27 Jul 2023. Expectations for environmentally friendly silicones products are high and demand for such products is expected to increase as it strives toward the realization of a sustainable society.

By quickly capturing such demand, developing new products, and establishing a production and supply chain, we will create new product lines that will drive the growth of Shin-Etsu's silicones business. The outline of the Sustainable Silicone Business Development Department is as follows: Date of establishment: 1 Oct 2023. Location: Within the Silicone Division at Shin-Etsu Chemical's Head Office.

Activities: Market research and sales promotion aimed at the development of environmentally friendly silicones products. Business promotion structure: Activities will be promoted in cooperation with the Silicone Division, domestic branches and Group companies in Japan and globally, with the Sustainable Silicone Business Development Department overseeing all activities. In its silicones business, Shin-Etsu Chemical is working to help achieve a sustainable society by reducing greenhouse gas emissions at its silicones manufacturing plants, increasing the supply capacity of silicones products that contribute to carbon neutrality.

Furthermore, it will accelerate its efforts to realize a sustainable society by expanding its lineup of environmentally friendly products that contribute to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the goal of becoming carbon neutral.

We remind, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Tokyo; President: Yasuhiko Saitoh) has determined that QST® (Qromis Substrate Technology) substrate*1 is an essential material for the social implementation of high-performance, energy-efficient GaN (gallium nitride) power devices, and the company will promote the development and launching on the market of these products.

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Amazon Web Services announced at the ADIPEC Exhibition and Conference the introduction of the Process Optimization solution for downstream and midstream operations, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Process Optimization solution uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide timely and actional insights for engineers and operators.

Process optimization activities for downstream and midstream operations are often cumbersome and onerous due to scale and complexity, while existing workflows are heavily reliant upon legacy technologies, and disparate and disconnected tools. The Process Optimization solution can help overcome these challenges and drive operational enhancements by improving unit throughput, product quality and product yields, in addition to improving energy consumption.

The AWS Process Optimization solution is a cloud-native solution that uses innovative services like Amazon SageMaker to build, train, and deploy ML models, and AWS IoT TwinMaker to easily create digital twins of real-world assets. The AI-powered offering is built on a foundational data architecture for open-loop insights, predictions, and recommendations. Leveraging ML, the solution provides models and supporting infrastructure to infer suggested process changes. Artificial intelligence is used for higher level goal-oriented inference providing computer vision, conversational interfaces, and chatbots for improved information accessibility and insight detection. The Process Optimization solution’s digital twin simulation capabilities help users to gain a virtual representation of assets for process and visualization oversight. This allows operators to simulate proposed facility changes, streamline remote job planning, and re-optimize following unplanned upsets and events.

We remind, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co has increased its buyout offer for Covestro AG to around 11 billion euros (USD12.3 billion). ADNOC's latest bid values Covestro at about 57 euros per share, the person said, up from a mid-50 euro per share range. Covestro had rejected ADNOC's initial takeover proposal last month, saying the offer was too low. A Covestro spokesperson declined to comment, while ADNOC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

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MRC -- Carbon Recycling International (CRI) and Jiangsu Sailboat have successfully started up one of the world's most efficient CO2-to-methanol plants, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

An opening ceremony took place on September 25th at the Shenghong Petrochemical Industrial Park. This marks a significant milestone in the global effort to boost the production of sustainable methanol – a valuable fuel and chemical feedstock.

This collaborative project brought together teams from around the world, bringing the plant to life in under two years from contract signing. The project's completion represents a truly global approach to tackling a shared environmental concern, with technical know-how and technology first demonstrated in Iceland playing a vital role in this international solution.

The Jiangsu Sailboat Methanol plant operates with CRI’s proprietary Emissions-to-Liquids (ETL) technology, transforming waste carbon dioxide and hydrogen gases into sustainable, commercial-grade methanol. The facility is built to recycle 150,000 tons of carbon dioxide sourced from waste streams at the large petrochemical complex each year, significantly reducing emissions that would have otherwise been released into the atmosphere.

The plant has the capacity to produce 100,000 tons of sustainable methanol annually – the second-largest CO2-to-methanol plant in the world. Used primarily to supply their olefins facility, this methanol will be used to produce chemical derivatives, including sustainable plastics and EVA coatings for solar panels. This will reduce the reliance on fossil-based methanol to drive more sustainable value chains and carbon footprint reduction initiatives across various sectors, such as industrial manufacturing and renewable energy.

Qian Xinhua, Vice President of Shenghong Petrochemical Industry Group, stated at the plant opening ceremony “This green industrial value chain project is a significant step forward. It uses advanced green and low-carbon technology to capture carbon dioxide and turn it into a resource. Further implementation of such technology allows us to combine green hydrogen, renewable energy, and more to create new materials, replacing the traditional raw materials used in the chemical industry.”

With the start-up of the Sailboat plant, CRI's ETL technology portfolio now has the capacity to recycle over 300,000 tons of CO2 annually (direct CO2). This is equivalent to the environmental impact of 15 million trees actively absorbing CO2 over the course of a year.

We remind, BASF, which has said it is seeking an exit from its energy business Wintershall Dea (WINT.UL), has attracted deal interest from companies including TotalEnergies and Equinor for the oil and gas unit. Chemicals giant BASF has been seeking to float Wintershall Dea, a joint venture in which Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's investment firm LetterOne holds a minority stake, on the stock exchange, but Russia's invasion in Ukraine has put those plans on ice.

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