01 Jun 2018

Eco-Oil, a shortcut to the future

Eco-Oil is a Skellefteå based company with a unique and patented processing plant that produce sustainable synthetic biofuel based on energy crops. The company started in 2007 by researchers from Umeå University in the Bio4Energy project, aiming to produce 100% renewable and CO2-neutral gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

The secret of the process lies in the catalysts used. The green fuel can be made from energy crops, forest waste, food residues, household waste, agricultural waste or even old newspapers. Just like normal gasoline, the green fuel, that are chemical equivalents of fossil petrol, diesel and jet fuel, releases CO2.

"But this carbon dioxide is green carbon dioxide, it's not pumped from the earth in the form of oil, but this is from vegetation and it is re-absorbed by vegetation," says Jyri-Pekka Mikkola, Research Director at Eco-Oil to TV4 News.

The fuel is green because it is renewable. The process, where input material, with the help of catalysts, is transformed into renewable diesel or gasoline as well as by-products in the form of a smaller amount of pure gas and pure deionized water, is green too.

2018 has been and still is an eventful year for Eco-Oil, which is taking its process from demonstration plant to commercial scale with the construction of two full-scale facilities, one for diesel and one for gasoline. They are also currently working on being listed on Nordic MTF stock exchange market. If all of Sweden's petrol requirements were to be met, investments of around 60 billion are needed. The company's business model is not to sell green gasoline and diesel, but to produce and sell processing plants, licenses and the secret catalysts.

"We have already sold processing plants that are now waiting to be built," says Nathalie Sundbom, Chief Assistant at Eco-Oil to TV4 News.

 

The movie cut from TV4 News can be viewed on Bio4Energy's website.

Text: Maria Klintenäs

Photo: Eco-Oil