A roadmap for the renewable and circular solutions revolution

Can a company go from being a traditional oil refiner to a sustainability leader?

With the climate crisis bearing down on us, the times demand an energy transformation – and Neste, which was recently featured in this webinar in our Sustainability in Action series, offers an example of how traditional energy companies can start shifting their operations to renewable energy.

Founded in Finland in 1948, Neste quickly expanded operations, established locations in Naantali and Porvoo, and diversified its portfolio to include natural gas, exploration and production, and chemicals.

But the early 2000s marked a turning point for what had become Finland’s largest company, with the development of Neste’s NEXBTL refining technology, enabling the production of renewable diesel. As Neste scaled up production, it solidified its position as the world’s largest producer of renewable diesel.

“It has actually taken a very long time to scale and commercialize our technology,” says Sakari Hiidenheimo, R&D Manager at Neste. “Every long-lasting transformation includes phases where challenges must be solved in order to move forward. Only in this way, change can be sustainable and profitable. With regards to Neste’s proprietary NEXBTL technology, the development has continued for decades. We have, for instance, been able to grow the pool of renewable raw materials from one suitable raw material to a wide variety of renewable oils and fats.”

“If we want to tackle climate change, we have to start early and we have to drive innovation to get things started because we have an urgent need for solutions,” says Hiidenheimo. To address the challenge, Neste has committed to the following milestones:

• 2030: Help their customers reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by at least 20 million tons annually
• 2035: Reach carbon-neutral production
• 2040: Reduce the use-phase emission intensity of sold products by 50%

To put the plan into immediate action, Neste is working on transforming the Porvoo oil refinery into the leading renewable and circular solutions hub by the mid-2030s. When completed, it will have a capacity potential of renewable and circular products of 3 million tons annually and target carbon neutral production by 2035.

Currently, the Porvoo facility is still processing 10 million tons of crude oil annually, along with renewable diesel in the NEXBTL units. Although Neste’s climate change commitments will create changes in the future, the company is presently hitting some major milestones:

• Amount of greenhouse gas emissions Neste’s customers reduced with renewable products in 2023 was 11 million tons. This reduction equals GHGs from more than 4.3 million road cargo trips from Rome to Stockholm, or from more than 22,000 full aircraft round trips from Amsterdam to San Francisco.
• Neste had a 3.3 million ton annual renewables production capacity by the end of 2023.
• Neste had reduced refinery use of conventional palm oil to 0% by the end of 2023.

When Hiidenheimo shares that the company wants to maintain its momentum, he deconstructs this statement into actionable steps:

1. Scale up projects and activities based on successful innovations.
2. Enable existing businesses to grow and build new platforms for growth.
3. Convert scalable carbon sources into preferred solutions.
4. Engage in extensive collaboration with research and value chain partners.

When it comes to collaboration, Hiidenheimo says Neste is “always working with a large group of partners in the field of technology and R&D."

“R&D institutes and universities play a remarkable role in the early phases of technology development,” he says. “The Neste Veturi R&D program is an example of an ecosystem where Neste has plenty of R&D consortia to co-develop solutions for sustainable fuels and chemicals.”

With a focus on sustainability and a circular economy, Neste has shifted its attention to new raw material inputs. “Our approach: We want to use low-quality raw materials and produce high-quality drop-in solutions,” Hiidenheimo explains. “It’s not an easy task, so the core is really technology and know-how. That’s where we focus our efforts on the innovation side.”

Although Neste currently uses waste and residues as 90% of its raw materials, potential mid- and long-term raw material inputs include: novel vegetable oil, lignocellulosics, municipal waste, waste plastics, algae, and renewable hydrogen.

Change is already in the air with renewable raw materials being co-processed with fossil raw materials at the Porvoo facility. The company also works with liquified waste plastic, which it processes into raw material for circular plastics and a renewable hydrogen plant with 120 MW electrolysis unit is in the basic engineering phase.

To learn more about Neste’s NEXBTL technology and the Neste Excellence Program, read the full article on Elsevier Connect.

Watch the webinar Neste’s journey to carbon neutrality