By Isabella Kaminski

Palm oil will continue to be Neste Oil’s single largest raw material and is expected to account for just under half of the total raw material used in renewable diesel production in 2011. But the use of materials generated during palm oil production, such as palm fatty acid distillate, and waste such as animal fat, will increase.

Neste Oil expects stearin, a by-product of the palm oil production process, to account for over 20% of its renewable input this year, and palm fatty acid distillate to account for between five and 10%. Waste animal fat is expected to account for just under 20% of renewable input. Other materials, such as rapeseed oil, will account for the remainder.

Matti Lehmus, Neste Oil's Executive Vice President of Oil Products and Renewables, says: "We are constantly working to extend our raw material base. When looking at the potential for making use of new raw materials, our primary criteria are whether they are produced sustainably and the impact they have in reducing raw material-related greenhouse gas emissions. The final decision is also shaped by a material's security of supply, its availability and its price."

Neste Oil produces NExBTL renewable diesel at two plants at the Porvoo refinery in Finland, and a facility in Singapore that started in 2010. A fourth plant will be commissioned in mid-2011 in Rotterdam. Extending the company's raw material base is one of the main goals of Neste Oil's strategy, and around 80% of the company's annual R&D expenditure goes towards research into renewable raw materials.