Italian biodiesel production to increase 28% in 2008

Italian biodiesel production to increase 28% in 2008

The Italian Biodiesel Association has stated that five new biodiesel plants are ready to come online and will increase national biodiesel capacity from 1.9 million tonnes and to 2.7 million tonnes.

The 12 existing plants produced only 469,707 tonnes due to high feedstock costs last year, down from more than 590,000 tonnes in 2006. The association is projecting that total production will reach 600,000 tonnes in 2008 and 800,000 tonnes in 2009.

Italian research has detailed the potential to use tobacco oil as a biodiesel feedstock. Researchers say that tobacco is a higher-yield crop than comparable biodiesel feedstocks.

The Chinese and Italian governments have initiated a feasibility study for jatropha biodiesel at Sichuan University. The project received $650,000 (€409,000) in support from Italy. The project is the third signed by Italy and China, promising cooperation in biofuels research since mid-April.

In April, Oxem Group began construction on a 60 million gallon a year canola-based biodiesel plant near Pavia, in Lombardy. Oxem will invest $100 million in the project that will use feedstock from France, Germany, Romania and Hungary. Last year, only 45,000 hectares of Italian crops produced feedstock for biodiesel.

In February, Mossi & Ghisolf announced that it will construct a 66 million gallon a year ethanol plant in Piedmont, and convert it to cellulosic feedstocks in the long run. Mossi & Ghisolf say the $148 million plant would be operational in 2009, and converted to cellulosic ethanol in a second, $177 million upgrade.