Japanese Producers Buck Weak Demand for Algae-Based Biofuel

Algae/Other Aquatic Organisms/Seaweed, Aviation Fuel (Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)), BioChemicals/Renewable Chemicals, BioRefineries/Renewable Fuel Production, Business News/Analysis, Feedstocks, Field/Orchard/Plantation Crops/Residues, Funding/Financing/Investing, Indonesia, Japan, Marketing/Market Forces and Sales, Not Agriculture, Opinions, Policy, Southeast Asia, Sustainability, Thailand

September 15, 2020

Print This Article Share it With Friends

(Nikkei Asian Review) Southeast Asian production rises while palm oil waste also takes the spotlight — Japanese biofuel companies are expanding their production of fuel from sources such as algae and palm oil waste, despite the current lack of demand from the aviation industry and falling oil prices due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biofuel startup Chitose Bio Evolution, which received funding from oil and gas company Eneos Holdings in March, is planning to expand production of algae that can generate biofuels in Malaysia. It has a 1,000 sq. meter production facility in the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre. Including the rest of Southeast Asia, it is looking to grow its production facility to larger than 200,000 sq. meters.

The company is aiming to raise a few billion yen from governments and companies for the expansion, which would generate over 1,000 tons of dried algae. That would translate into roughly 500 tons of oil, which would then need to be refined. This would “still not be competitive with crude oil, but would generate significant volume,” said Tomohiro Fujita, CEO of Chitose.

Euglena, another Japanese biofuel company, is also looking to increase algae production, possibly in Indonesia or Colombia. In addition, the company is searching for other biofuel sources, such as waste from palm oil production in Southeast Asia, Tatsu Kou, manager of the biofuels business department, told the Nikkei Asian Review. READ MORE

Comments are closed.

Advanced BioFuels USA