Eni: The procurement of palm oil has come to an end

Eni has definitively ended the procurement of palm oil for use at the Venice and Gela biorefineries for the production of hydrogenated biofuels. The last shipments arrived in the last few weeks, ahead of the declared goal of becoming ‘palm oil free’ by the end of 2022.

Eni’s biorefineries in Venice and Gela are already fuelled with ‘waste & residue’ raw materials, such as used cooking oil and animal fats, for more than 85% of their processes, as well as other biomasses regulated by current national and European regulations.

In November, the first load of vegetable oil produced in the Makueni agri-hub in Kenya will arrive at the Gela biorefinery, where castor, croton and cotton seeds are pressed. These agri-feedstocks, produced by Eni, do not compete with the food chain. They are grown in degraded areas, harvested from wild trees or are derived from the enhancement of agricultural by-products. In addition to the country’s agri-feedstocks, whose production will reach 2,500 tonnes of oil by the end of 2022 and 20,000 tonnes by 2023, there is also the collection of waste and residues, including used vegetable oil, collected in Kenya. The first shipments are on their way to Italy and up to 5,000 tonnes are expected to have arrived by 2023.

In 2014, the biorefinery in Porto Marghera, Venice became the first example in the world of converting an oil refinery into a biorefinery, and today Eni is the first energy major to build a vertical integration model for the supply of its plants, enabling it to promote more sustainable local development in Africa.

Eni’s biorefineries produce hydrogenated HVO biofuels which are destined, either purely or in blended form, for diesel engines, biodiesel for the chemical supply chain, biogpl and biojet for air transport.