Page 157 - CW E-Magazine (19-8-2025)

News from Abroad

LOWER EMISSIONS
Eni, LG Chem begin work on biorefinery in South

Korea

LG-Eni BioRefining Co. Ltd. – a “Together with [Eni renewa-
joint venture of Italian energy major ble fuels] plants that are already
Eni subsidiary Enilive (49%) and South operational in Italy and the US,
Korea’s LG Chem (51%) – has started and with [our] new biorefining
construction of the partners’ proposed plants under construction in Italy
grassroots biorefinery at LG Chem’s and Malaysia, the upcoming
Daesan integrated petrochemical com- biorefining plant in Daesan will
plex in Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do contribute to reaching our 2030
Province, South Korea. target to increase our biorefining
capacity to over 5-mn tpa, with
The company kicked off ground- plant will specifically use a feedstock the potential to produce more than 2-mn
breaking activities for the new hydro- of sustainable vegetable oils such as tpa of SAF,” said Mr. Stefano Ballista,
treated vegetable oil (HVO) and sus- used cooking oils, among other uni- Enilive’s CEO.
tainable aviation fuel (SAF) production dentified bio-based waste and residues.
plant – the first of its kind in South Taking into account the entire product By integrating HVO into its supply
Korea – on August 4. The plant is value chain, HVO and SAF greenhouse chain, LG Chem plans to reduce car-
expected to be ready in 2027. gas (GHG) emissions are significantly bon emissions and expand its portfolio
reduced if compared to traditional of ISCC PLUS-certified bio-circular
The biorefinery will use Eni-Honey- fossil fuels, they said. balanced products. Target applica-
well UOP co-developed Ecofining tions include Acrylonitrile Butadiene
technology to flexibly process about Start of construction on the Daesan Styrene (ABS) for electronics and
400,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of renewables plant follows the partners’ automobiles, Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate
renewable materials to produce SAF, September 2023 launch of technical (EVA) for sporting goods, and Super
HVO, and bionaphtha, the companies and economic feasibility assessments Absorbent Polymers (SAP) for
said. The partners confirmed the new for the project. hygiene products.

DECARBONISING AVIATION
Rayonier Advanced Materials and GranBio to explore

cellulosic SAF project in US

Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. ration ethanol, which will be upgraded AVAP technologies for ethanol and
(RYAM), a US-based cellulose technology into SAF for sale to an offtaker. The new sugar production at its own facility, in
specialist, has signed a Memorandum of facility would leverage RYAM’s infra- partnership with GranBio.
Understanding (MoU) with GranBio, a structure at the Jesup plant, including
biochemicals and biofuels firm, to jointly feedstock, utilities, and logistics. The “This MoU aligns with our strategy
explore the development of a small-scale project will be partially financed through to unlock new value from our core as-
commercial cellulosic Sustainable Avia- GranBio’s $100-mn grant from the US sets and expand into renewable markets
tion Fuel (SAF) facility co-located at Department of Energy. where our infrastructure and technical
RYAM’s Jesup, Georgia (US) site. capabilities create a competitive advan-
In addition to advancing its goal tage,” said Mr. De Lyle Bloomquist,
Under the agreement, GranBio will of maximising value from existing President and CEO of RYAM. The due
lead the proposed project to deploy its assets, should the project proceed, RYAM diligence is expected to conclude later
proprietary AVAP technology to convert would receive a license to GranBio’s this year, at which point both parties
lignocellulosic biomass into second-gene- latest-generation Celer2L yeast and will determine next steps.

Chemical Weekly August 19, 2025 157

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