Biodiesel
Renewable feedstock and growth engine for Proviron
The production of biodiesel fits in perfectly with Proviron’s long-term product innovation strategy. Complementary product lines are essential in this concept. We aim to produce a growing chemical portfolio based on renewable feedstock. The biodiesel plant was developed in the course of 2006 and will start production in the middle of 2007. This makes Proviron one of only four players in the biodiesel market, which were selected by the Belgian government to produce this innovative source of energy. It turns Proviron into a fully-fledged partner in the social issue of re-examining energy management. This has many aspects, with biodiesel being inevitably part of it.
Through this biodiesel project, we will work our way into the processes, markets, and customer relationships in this area. The project also adds a third activity branch to the Proviron company structure.
Things can only get better with biodiesel. After all, Europe has decided that by 2020 the biodiesel share has to be at least 10 % of the minimally 20 % of renewable energy sources. That 10 % biodiesel share obligation is owing to the extensive responsibility of the transport sector in CO2 emissions. Proviron’s procurement policy takes into account the “sustainable origin” of our raw materials. We support any initiative that leads to a legislative framework that secures the sustainability of our activities in the production of biodiesel.
Technological integration
For Proviron to pick biodiesel as a starting point of several new product lines was almost natural. We have the expertise and the technology, suitable installations, and the necessary logistics. What’s more, we can use residual heat from other local installations in this process. We did not hesitate to grasp this opportunity in 2006: the installation was built according to plan. The next logical step, which is already in the pipeline, will be a refining capacity investment.
Interesting spin-offs
Biodiesel as such is a fine story, but there is more. An important biodiesel by-product is glycerine, a simple yet interesting molecule, used in the production of cattle fodder and in biogas units. We intend to utilise this dynamism to the full and we are, therefore, working on the development of new applications for glycerine-derived products. This may include saponified fatty acids, which are by their nature leaves on the biodiesel branch. Our glycerine offers other possibilities such as the production of plasticisers for synthetic materials.
From A to B
In addition, other initiators may develop activities on our Ostend site that are complementary to our biodiesel production. We already mentioned biogas, based on glycerine residue, but which can also be derived from surplus manure. Green power is another possibility: power stations working on renewable oil as well as combined heat and power, also called co-gen(eration). Moreover, it is Proviron’s ambition to produce more “green” chemicals.