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| UK's D1 welcomes first tanker of biodiesel feedstock at River Tees port |
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| Wednesday, 28 June 2006 | |
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D1 Oils plc, the UK-based producer of biodiesel, has this month received its first tanker shipment of imported vegetable oil for refining at its new Teesside refinery. The shipment of 2,000 tonnes of refined soya oil from Brazil arrived in Teesside on the MV Mamry last week. The soya oil will be refined into biodiesel at D1’s Middlesbrough site, which currently has a production capacity of 32,000 tonnes of biodiesel per year. By year end D1 expects to increase production to 72,000 tonnes, which will require shipments of 6000 tonnes per month.
The soya oil was first shipped to Rotterdam from Brazil by tanker and then transferred to the Mamry for landing at wharf facilities on the Tees close to D1's refinery. D1's own 'D1 20' biodiesel refineries, of which four are currently deployed in Middlesbrough, can each produce 8,000 tonnes of biodiesel per year from a range of edible and inedible vegetable oil feedstocks, including rapeseed, soya, palm olein and jatropha. "This is the first of many expected shipments of vegetable oil into Teesside for refining into biodiesel,” said Elliott Mannis, Chief Executive of D1 Oils. “We located our refinery site in Middlesbrough to be close to the excellent wharfs and existing storage facilities on the Tees. Tankers offer a very cost effective and energy efficient way of moving vegetable oil and biodiesel. We are considering installing a pipeline from the dock to new storage facilities at our site so we can pump crude vegetable oil directly from vessels and pump the refined biodiesel back for onward shipment." He added, "We believe that refining imported vegetable oil feedstocks in the UK is a cost effective means to meet growing national demand for biodiesel as a cleaner and greener fuel for cars and trucks. As our plantations of primary feedstock, Jatropha curcas, begin to produce oil in volume over the next few years, we will increase significantly the import and refining of low cost feedstocks sustainably produced overseas, particularly in developing countries." Editorial comment: Although this ship contained soya oil, D1's medium-to-long-term plan is to use Jatropha Curcas as it's primary feedstock. To this end, it has 'contract farming' arrangements in India and Zambia, and has appointed a representative in Singapore to organise the company's new SE Asia plantings. A farming contract is entered into with local farmers, and is an arrangement which involves the farmer receiving support such as soft loans, agricultural advice, seeds and tools in return for a committment on their part to yield the resulting crop to the company as biodiesel feedstock. Jatropha Curcas is inedible to people and animals, and so does not compete for the farmer's resources with food crops, which are often vital to the farmer and their families. This model is perceived to be particularly beneficial to small farmers in that it by-passes the big plantation owners and multinationals, and allows ordinary rural people to participate economically in the growth of this new industry. Because of these perceived benefits, the contract-farming model is easily supported by national and international governmental and non-governmental organisations involved in farm support. These organisations can provide outreach, education, grants, translation, publicity, and not least, the cutting through of 'red tape'. See previous articles on D1 Oils: D1 Oils Chairman challenges UN to deliver focused global strategy on Biofuels: http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/20/2/ D1 Oils plants 174,000 ha of Jatropha in Zambia: http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/122/2/ David Smith, Singapore |
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