Neste tests renewable drop-in gasoline in Sweden

London, (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) – Biofuel producer and oil refiner Neste has begun testing renewable gasoline as a full 'drop-in' solution for replacing fossil-fuel gasoline in Sweden with the aim of later distributing the biofuel internationally, the company said Friday.

Other solutions for producing drop-in renewable gasoline, which unlike standard biofuels can be used theoretically without limit in gasoline engines, have been under development for years.

However, none have yet reached an industrial scale and Neste said that it "may be the first to have developed a renewable gasoline for such commercial use."

"With Neste's renewable gasoline, greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by up to 65% compared to fossil gasoline. Thus, countries could raise their national ambitions to reduce even more greenhouse gas emissions as the industry is able to introduce new, impactful solutions," says Carl Nyberg, executive vice president, Renewable Road Transportation at Neste.

Until now, renewables targets for emissions reduction in gasoline engine vehicles have been met overwhelmingly with bioethanol, which is blended into fossil gasoline, but only within limits per European and US vehicle manufacturer specs.

A drop-in replacement is, however, chemically identical to regular gasoline, or at least close enough that it can be used without exceeding limits in existing vehicle fleets and fuel distribution systems - the so-called blendwall.

As targets for biofuel blending and emissions cuts have increased in Europe, those obligated to blend biofuels have regularly found themselves unable to meet their targets while staying within the blending limits for standard bioethanol and biodiesel.

As such they have been forced to use additional drop-in renewable fuels to avoid penalties.

Under these circumstances, producers of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) which is a drop-in replacement for diesel, including Neste, have been able to command premiums for their product versus standard fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) biodiesel.

Options to use a renewable fuel to circumvent blend limits in gasoline have so far been few and far between, however, leaving open a potential market which Neste will hope to address with this new fuel.