The Digest’s 2018 Guide to Italy in the Advanced Bioeconomy

September 06, 2018

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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Groups like Eni, Wilmar, Novamont, Reverdia, Blue Sphere, or the many consortia? The key takeaways; the mandates and national targets; the key producers; process technology R&D; feedstock & supply chain development. All in one concise guide.

Mandates and national consumption
Key takeaway: Italy is part of the EU and its overall Renewable Energy Directive; strikingly, it is the first country in the EU to decide to create a 0.6% advanced biofuels blending mandate by 2018, the first in Europe to set up such a policy to boost demand for next generation fuels. That figure will increase to 1% by 2022. Beta Renewables can produce 75 million liters per year at its facility in Crescentino and the country expects three more cellulosic ethanol plants to come online in southern Italy during the next year.

Without a doubt, the biggest news of the year in Italian national policy was the news that emerged in April that Italy is moving forward with a EUR4.7 billion incentive scheme for biogas.

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Elsewhere, we reported in March that Venice will begin a seven-month trial in April using 15% blending of used cooking oil-based biodiesel in its waterbuses that travel the city’s famous canals.

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But we should not overlook the commitment also of the Italian Navy to a green fleet. In March 2014, we reported on the Italian “Flotta Verde” (Green Fleet) project, which started in close conjunction with the earlier US Navy Great Green Fleet initiative ....

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For an overall spiritual structure, we would look no further on the Italian Peninsula than Pope Francis’ Laudato si’ (Praise Be to You) On the care for our common home, his second encyclical, concerning Catholic doctrine with respect to climate change, consumerism, and development. In calling Catholics and Catholic Church to renewed action on climate change and discussing its roots in and relation to human behavior and moral attitude.

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Key Producers
Key takeaway: Italy had been a leader in cellulosic ethanol, via Beta Renewables; but has been most notable in new capacity in the past 12 months on the chemcials side, particularly in levulinic acid and PHA. But Italy remains a major player on the biodiesel side, especially with Eni’s long-term interest in renewable diesel and biodiesel.

The news of the year is that Bio-On started up its first polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) bioplastics plant for markets such as cosmetics microbeads. The €20 million investment—which includes associated research laboratories to expand the range of applications—is designed to produce 1,000 metric tons per year.

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Elsewhere in recent capacity, news we reported in November 2016 that Novamont opened the world’s first commercial-scale facility for the bio-based production of bio-based 1,4-butanediol, in Bottrighe (Adria), North East Italy. Having licensed Genomatica’s technology, the Novamont Mater-Biotech plant will produce 30,000 tons of BDO per year from renewable sugars.

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Reverdia currently has a production capacity of about 10,000 tonnes per year of Biosuccinium at their Cassano, Italy plant.

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As we reported in July, Biochemtex S.p.A., Beta Renewables S.p.A., IBP Energia S.r.l. and the Italian Bio Products S.r.l. companies belonging to the industrial group Mossi & Ghisolfi S.p.A., will be auctioned off en bloc in an inseparable sale to the highest bidder.

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In new capacity, in March 2015 we reported that Eni announced it will convert the Gela refinery in Sicily into its second hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO) renewable diesel unit. Eni’s capacity to process vegetable oils once the Gela refinery begins operations this tyear will be approximately one million tonnes per year.

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In M&A activity, we reported that Blue Sphere Corp acquired 4 fully operational biogas facilities in Italy.

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In September, the European Commission’s merger regulator approved the creation of a joint venture between Wilmar International and Fox Petrolifera Italiana SpA of Italy to be based in the Netherlands in order to operate Fox’s existing biodiesel plant in Italy.

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Applications Development
Key takeaway: In making new technology work, the focus ultimately falls not on the process engineers, the feedstock procurere, the developers of mandates or the financiers. It falls on the application developers, and Reverdia has been hard at work for several years establishing partnerships towards that end for its bio-succinium. But now, a slew of applications are being developed or embraced in Italy.

Let’s start with Bio-On, which just opened its commercial PHA biorefinery.

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Meanwhile, we reported in May that abandoned fishing nets and old carpets are just a few examples of the waste that are used to produce ECONYL yarn, a regenerated nylon fiber, used by carpet manufacturers who make sustainability one of the pillars of their business.

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Process Technology Research & Development
Key takeaway: In new technology, the focus this year has been on PHA and bioplastics.

In June 2015, we reported that Bio-on was ready to grant licenses for its PHAs bioplastic technology using biodiesel by-products. Bio-on technology now enables production facilities producing from 2,000 tons/year to 10,000 tons/year of PHAs to be realised. PHAs, or polyhydroxyalkanoates, are bioplastics that can replace a number of traditional plastics currently made with petrochemical processes using hydrocarbons. PHAs guarantee the same thermo-mechanical properties with the advantage of being completely naturally biodegradable.

Genomatica also partnered with Versalis on advancing the production of bio-butadiene specifically for Versalis’ use of it to make bio-rubber or more specficially bio-polybutadiene (bio-BR), as reported in the Digest February 2016. This was a huge milestone for the rubber industry with the use of sugars as feedstock rather than the usual hydrocarbon feedstocks.

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Feedstocks & Supply Chain
Key takeaway: Think waste oils aggregation.

In December 2017 we reported that in an attempt to boost used cooking oil supplies for its Venice HVO refinery, Eni has teamed with Utilitalia, the national association of publically-owned utilities, and CONOE, the national association of UCO and fats collectors, to collect UCO from the homes of its employees around the country.

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In March 2015, the University of Bologna became one of 18 partners in the EU funded research project COSMOS. Led by Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research, this 4.5-year project aims at reducing the dependence of Europe’s oleochemical industry on imported plant oils by turning camelina and crambe into profitable, sustainable, multipurpose, non-GMO European oil crops. READ MORE