Increasing demand of Bionaphtha for Fuels and Petrochemicals in Europe

As the major Oil companies are fighting continuously for becoming more sustainable, they are looking out for regulations, funding models, and technological developments to maintain their leadership in the emerging market of more sustainable fuels. 

In this regard Bionaphtha which is a more sustainable alternative to fossil-based Naphtha, is expected to experience demand growth as a petrochemical feedstock and gasoline blend throughout Europe. 

The production levels in Europe range between 150,000-250,000 tonnes yearly with several expansion projects in the pipeline. The production is expected to rise to 500,000 tonnes in the upcoming four to five years.

The demand for Bionaphtha is expected to grow and the rising consumer demand for sustainable gasoline and petrochemicals will drive the demand growth in Europe. 

The demand growth is supported by the regulatory environment which is increasingly becoming more welcoming to sustainable solutions to climate change. One such regulation is the Second Renewable Energy Directive issued by the European commission which requires renewable energy to make up for 32% of the consumption by 2030. 

Bionaphtha is the Naphtha which is manufactured through the renewable route. There are three technologies available for the production of Bionaphtha which are Pyrolysis which involves heating solid biomass in the absence of Oxygen, Liquid Phase Processing which is the most common route and yields high proportions of renewable Biodiesel.

In this process the biomass is preheated with a catalyst to make a slurry which is cleaned and processed with Hydrogen subsequently the slurry is reacted with water. The last is the gasification process which is a diversion from the pyrolysis process which generates syngas which is further used for production of biofuels.