BASF starts bio-polyol production in India

German chemical giant BASF announced on 9 March that it had started production of its bio-based polyol Sovermol product in Mangalore, India.

”Bio-based polyols are hydroxyl functional polymers based on raw materials like rapeseed, castor and soyabean oils,” BASF said. “Through special modification, we combine the two chemical structures of polyether and polyester into one to make a polyether/ester.”

Sovermol was suitable for applications in new energy vehicles (NEV), windmills, flooring and protective industrial coatings in Asia Pacific, BASF said. “The region is the world’s fastest growing market for NEV and coatings.

“In the past, we shipped raw materials from India to our European plant and sold the finished goods across the globe back to Asia Pacific,” BASF said. With the Mangalore facility, the company would have raw materials available in India, reducing transportation time, enhancing supply reliability and giving a shorter lead time.

BASF said Sovermol enabled coating formulations to achieve zero volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions, as well as offering advantages such as low toxicity, broad adhesion, weather resistance, low shrinkage and adjustable mechanical properties.

The Mangalore site is BASF’s largest production facility in South Asia and also produces polymer dispersions, fine chemical catalysts and coatings for the paper, agricultural and automotive industries.

Joint project to study converting palm oil waste into fuel

Japanese engineering company JGC Holdings Corporation and energy firm Japan NUS (JANUS) have signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysian natural gas, marketing and distribution company Gas Malaysia Bhd (GMB) to study the conversion of palm oil waste into fuel.

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) and empty fruit bunches (EFBs) emitted large amounts of methane gas, with a greenhouse effect 25 times that of CO2, JGC said on 3 March.

Another challenge was that the palm oil industry discarded thinned wood, waste wood and other potential raw materials.

JGC said the project would study the feasibility of converting methane from POME and EFB into biomethane fuel and pellet fuel. Potential biocrude oil and biochemical applications for thinned and waste wood would also be investigated, along with the supply chain.

As part of the agreement, GMB would provide information on facilities with good access to feedstock in Peninsular Malaysia and on bioenergy – including natural gas –distribution networks, JGC said.

The research would extend to the use of carbon credits, biomethane certification and other systems that enhanced the sustainable value of any products resulting from the project, JGC said.

The joint study would tie in with the Asia Zero Emission Community Initiative announced last year by Japan.

JGC has experience of plant construction for liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil refineries and other facilities in Malaysia, which is the world’s second largest producer of palm oil after Indonesia.

USA: Canadian renewable fuel and feedstocks supplier Targray has opened two new biodiesel terminals in Oregon state.

The new terminals are located in Portland and Eugene and are strategically positioned to supply wholesale fuel distributors, retailers and refineries in the state, which has a mandatory 5% biodiesel blending requirement in place, according to a Targray statement on 9 March.

“Like the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) programme in California, the Oregon Clean Fuels Program (CFP) is a law regulated by the state which requires a 10% reduction in transportation fuel carbon intensity over a 10-year period in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation fuels sector below 2015 levels by 2025,” the company added.

Targray sources, transports, stores, trades and supplies bio-based fuels, with a dedicated rail fleet and terminals in California, Oregon, Washington and the Upper Midwest, USA.

It also trades in a range of emissions-related products, as well as sustainable cotton; supplies pulses and grains out of its Dubai trading desk; and supplies solar and photovoltaic materials.