more waste, lower carbon: german biorefinery breaks ground on expansion

Chevron is focused on a lower carbon future, and we hope biodiesel will play a significant role in that future.

This summer, we broke ground on a project that aims to reduce the carbon intensity of biodiesel produced at our Renewable Energy Group biorefinery in Emden, Germany.

The project, which began in late August, will upgrade the facility with a centralized pretreatment system. This will enable us to process more waste feedstocks for biodiesel production.

“Society is asking us to use more and more waste, and that’s what we’re doing with this investment,” said Michael Fiedler-Panajotopoulos, Chevron’s European director of Public Affairs.

Biodiesel is a renewable alternative to traditional diesel fuel, created using waste products, also known as feedstocks.

“Waste biodiesel could reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 40 to 93% when compared to fossil diesel,” Fiedler-Panajotopoulos said.

We are repurposing used cooking oil as a feedstock at our Emden biorefinery, and this expansion broadens the facility’s capacity to process animal fats and other difficult-to-process waste fats and oils.

We will be able to refine some of the lowest carbon intensity feedstocks thanks to the expansion project. Our goal is to work toward a leading renewable fuels platform that aims to help provide lower carbon transportation solutions.

“Feedstock innovation and acceptance is critical to the growth of bio-based fuels globally, and we continue to advocate for the ability to utilize all generations of feedstocks and technology neutrality,” said Kevin Lucke, Chevron Renewable Energy Group president.

Our Emden biorefinery can produce up to 27 million gallons of high-quality biodiesel per year.

The project is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2023.