Vegetable oils

Lars Lind
Lars Lind
Vice President, BU Biofuels
+46 303 728 676
Vegetable oils as a base raw material

Various vegetable oils and fats have the potential as raw materials for both transport fuels and chemicals. Perstorp currently uses rapeseed oil to produce biodiesel (RME). There are other methyl esters that might be interesting from a number of perspectives. Options of producing various types of fatty acid methyl esters, or FAME, whose raw materials don’t compete with foodstuffs are being studied. One idea is to hydrate them and create a new fuel that can then be mixed with diesel.

What oils are consumed the most globally?

Palm oil 40.8 million tons
Soy bean oil 38.4 million tons
Rapeseed oil 18.0 million tons
Sunflower oil 10.1 million tons
Peanut oil 5.0 million tons
Cotton oil 4.9 million tons
Palm nut oil 4.8 million tons
Coconut oil 3.3 million tons
Olive oil 3.0 million tons
Total 128.2 million tons

Did you know that in 2008 Europe imported 5 million tons of palm oil, of which 85% went to the food industry and 15% to the petrochemical industry, where it is made into shampoo, conditioner and skincare products?

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