The Italian oil and gas multinational Eni is the first company in the world that transformed a traditional refinery into a biorefinery. Since May 2014, thanks to proprietary technology, the corporation has been producing extremely high-quality biofuels. Eni’s website states that it “has found a way to repurpose the catalytic hydrodesulfurization section of its Venice refinery” and it is now able to transform biological feedstock into “green diesel, but also green naphtha, LPG and potentially even jet fuel”. The initiative is, of course, making it easier to meet the European Union’s obligations that require fuels to incorporate at least 10% of derivates from renewable resources by 2020.
Last year, Venice biorefinery started transforming cooking oil from the city’s restaurants into biofuel. The project has been launched together with Veritas, a multi-utility company that is in charge of collecting and transforming waste in Venice. AVM Holding, the agency responsible for the mobility inside the city, is also part of the agreement, as it will buy the biofuel for its vaporetti in the lagoon. The purified oil that will be turned into Enidiesel+ will consist of 15% of the renewable product. The plan was first tested over months last year, a time in which the related examinations were also made. At the end of this period, the laboratory tests’ results showed a decrease in pollutant emissions, especially regarding nitrogen oxides and ultrafine particles.
The positive environmental impact of the initiative is undeniable. The Venice refinery is already processing around 360,000 tons of vegetable oil every year and figures are meant to double once the conversion project will be completed. Such an amount of such cooking oil as waste is not always the simplest thing, especially in a city like Venice. In fact, it pollutes the city’s canals’ waters harming both flora and fauna. It also represents a danger for the boats and blocks the collecting system, which becomes more expensive to take care of.
But the sustainable biofuel that is processed from this biological feedstock is not only a benefit for the environment. The biofuel also grants great performances for the engines, it respects the Union’s regulation and it is a true example of a circular economy. By converting waste into an innovative and sustainable energy resource, the parts involved are able to close the chain of consumption, cutting costs and boosting the culture of recycling. As the oil used for cooking foods in the restaurants of Venice becomes the fuel for the public transport service, the inhabitants of the lagoon are more aware of all the elements that combine the idea of sustainability, from the environmental, social and economic perspective. The project is also expected to spread all over Italy and be adopted by many other companies and cities. Venice and Gela (which has been undergoing the conversion from a regular refinery into a biorefinery in the first half of 2019) plants will, in fact, start using cooking oil as biofuels in the Vatican City soon.