CONOCOPHILLIPS, TYSON TO MAKE BIODIESEL FROM FAT
04.18.07 - Leído 110 veces. Enviar esta notaMichael Erman
Oil company ConocoPhillips and meat producer Tyson Foods Inc. plan to work together to produce biodiesel from animal fat, the companies said
NEW YORK, US; April 18, 2007.- Beef, pork and chicken fat from Tyson rendering plants will be processed at ConocoPhillips refineries to create transportation fuel.
ConocoPhillips, the third-largest US oil company, said it will begin spending to prepare several refineries to process the fuel.
Tyson, the world’s largest chicken, beef and pork processor, said it will make capital improvements this summer at some of its rendering plants so it can start pre-processing animal fat.
The companies said they expect that production from the project will ramp up over time to as much as 175 million gallons per year of biodiesel.
Tyson said production is expected to start late in 2007 and ramp up through spring 2009. At full production, Tyson expects annual earnings of 4 cents to 16 cents a share from the project.
The companies did not disclose how much they expect to spend on the alliance or which plants would be used for the project.
“We are firmly committed to leveraging our leadership position in the food industry to identify and commercialize renewable energy opportunities,” said Tyson Chief Executive Richard Bond in a statement.
Early this year, President Bush called for increased use of renewable fuels to reduce reliance on oil from the Middle East.
Energy companies have come under pressure from environmentalists to increase production of renewable fuels.
In 2006, US biodiesel makers produced between 225 million and 250 million gallons, or less than 6 million barrels, of the fuel, according to the National Biodiesel Board. That compared with an overall on-road diesel market of about 38 billion barrels, the board said.
Only a very small percentage of the biodiesel currently produced in the United States comes from animal fat; the main feedstock currently used to make biodiesel is soybean oil.
ConocoPhillips and Tyson said the fats will be processed with hydrocarbon feedstocks to produce a high-quality diesel fuel that meets all federal standards for ultra-low-sulfur diesel.
ConocoPhillips already produces biodiesel from soybeans at its Whitegate refinery in Cork, Ireland.
Tyson, which formed a renewable energy unit late last year, has said it has access to about 2.3 billion pounds of animal fat annually — the equivalent 20,000 barrels a day of feedstock that can be turned into renewable fuel.
(Reuters)
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