Neste Oil to realign its long-term R&D and switch its emphasis to other areas of technology for using forestry and agricultural waste

Espoo, Finland, 9-10-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — Neste Oil is to realign its long-term R&D and switch its emphasis from microbial oil research to other areas of technology for using forestry and agricultural waste. This type of waste will continue to play an important role in Neste Oil’s research strategy, and the company remains committed to its goal of further extending its feedstock base and making greater use of waste and residues in this area in particular.

“Our microbial oil pilot plant at Porvoo has demonstrated that we have the technical capability for producing microbial oil,” says Neste Oil’s Senior Vice President, Technology, Lars Peter Lindfors. “Seen in terms of sustainability, using waste and sidestreams generated by agriculture and forestry as well as industry has a very important role to play in the future, and we have successfully used straw, for example, to produce microbial oil. Two years of in-depth microbial oil research at the pilot plant has generated a lot of valuable know-how and extended our patent portfolio, and we will be able to use the results of this work in other research projects.

“The time is not yet ripe for a commercial-scale microbial oil plant, however. Lignocellulose material is not a financially competitive industrial feedstock for producing renewable diesel using the microbial oil process at the moment. We will continue researching agricultural and forestry waste and residues, and believe that lignocellulose inputs will play an important role in future renewable applications,” says Lindfors.

Neste Oil Corporation

Osmo Kammonen
Senior Vice President, Communications and Brand Marketing

Further information:
Lars-Peter Lindfors, Senior Vice President, Technology, tel. + 358 (0)10 458 3605

Neste Oil in brief
Neste Oil Corporation is a refining and marketing company concentrating on low-emission, high-quality traffic fuels. The company produces a comprehensive range of major petroleum products and is the world’s leading supplier of renewable diesel. Neste Oil had net sales of EUR 17.5 billion in 2013 and employs around 5,000 people, and is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.

Neste Oil is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, and has featured in The Global 100 list of the world’s most sustainable corporations for many years. Forest Footprint Disclosure (FFD) has ranked Neste Oil as one of the best performers in the oil & gas sector. Further information: www.nesteoil.com

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