As Renewable Fuels Gain Ground, Frontline Waste Offers Key Solution





September 20, 2024 by Patricia Sendin





The renewable fuels market in Spain and Portugal is growing at a rapid pace, with nearly 400 service stations now offering 100% renewable fuels made from waste materials. These fuels deliver the same performance as traditional fossil fuels while reducing carbon emissions by up to 90%.


This is great news for Frontline Waste, a waste-to-biofuel technology provider that believes renewable fuels —particularly those derived from waste— are the fastest and most cost-effective way to decarbonize transportation, as they don’t require infrastructure upgrades or new vehicle investments.


The deployment of renewable fuels in Spain is being led by energy giant Repsol, with its president, Antonio Brufau, recently presenting the project as a cornerstone of its decarbonization strategy at a Circular Economy conference in Cartagena, Spain. Repsol aims to achieve a total production capacity of renewable fuels, including renewable hydrogen and biomethane, of over 2 million tons by 2030, positioning itself as the leader in this fuel market in the country.


Mr Brufau described the company’s decarbonization strategy as a “technologically neutral approach that safeguards both energy security and competitiveness,” and took pride in its full alignment with the key recommendations from the new Future of European Competitiveness report, authored by former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi.


Draghi’s report calls for a technologically neutral approach to Europe’s energy transition, which could include internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles powered by biofuels that significantly reduce emissions. It highlights the inadequate assessment of ICE vehicles' carbon footprints and urges the European Commission to establish a life-cycle assessment methodology (‘cradle to grave’) for greenhouse gas emissions for ICE vehicles by 2025. With the cheapest new electric vehicle (EV) in 2023 being 92% more expensive than the lowest-priced ICE car, the report indicates that around 45% of vehicles in Europe are projected to continue using ICE or hybrid technology by 2040.


Repsol is aligning itself with this outlook, as Mr Brufau asserts that ICEs are not going anywhere. The company is focused on providing renewable fuels that can lower tailpipe emissions by up to 90% compared to conventional petroleum products. While these renewable fuels do release some carbon dioxide upon combustion, they are sourced from plants and organisms that absorbed CO2 during their growth, which is reflected in the emissions assessment.



Hydrotreatment reactors at the Repsol biorefinery in Cartagena, Spain



Repsol's Cartagena Biorefinery


Repsol delivers its renewable fuels from a €250 million large-scale facility in operation since April 2024, designed to produce 250,000 tonnes of renewable fuels annually. It is located in the Escombreras Valley, a huge petro-chemical complex dating from 1950 some kilometers away from Cartagena, a lovely Mediterranean port city known for its Roman ruins. The biorefinery is expected to be the first of 3 spread around the country.


The facility processes waste cooking oil collected from Spain and other regions. The plant receives about 300,000 tons of waste cooking oil per year and transforms it into renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The feedstock is delivered by boat and stored in four 9,000-cubic meters tanks.


Feedstock Challenges


While waste cooking oil is a popular biofuel feedstock, its supply is limited and unlikely to meet Repsol's targets. In 2019, Spain collected just 270,000 cubic meters (roughly 246,000 tonnes), while global supply is only around 50 million tonnes annually. As biofuel production scales up, sourcing sufficient quantities will become more challenging, likely requiring Repsol to look beyond Spain for its feedstock, potentially increasing emissions and costs, or to diversify its sources beyond waste cooking oil.


Frontline Waste’s Solution


Municipal solid waste (MSW)-derived pyrolytic oil could serve as an alternative to waste cooking oil as a renewable fuel feedstock. Unlike waste cooking oil, MSW is locally available, reducing the need for long-distance transportation. It often comes at a negative price, with municipalities and businesses paying to dispose of it.


Frontline Waste's technology efficiently converts MSW into biofuels like hydrogen-rich syngas and pyrolytic oil, as well as aggregates such as biocoal. Its decentralized, modular system can be deployed near waste sources, reducing both transportation costs and emissions. This solution is especially valuable for renewable fuel producers looking to expand production without depending solely on a single feedstock, such as waste cooking oil.


As Repsol and other companies scale up renewable fuel operations, technologies like Frontline Waste’s will be essential for diversifying feedstocks and meeting the growing demand for renewable fuels.




Patricia Sendin is a partner at Frontline Waste.



REFERENCES

The Future of European Competitiveness, Part B | In-depth Analysis and Recommendations, September 2024 by Mario Draghi