China kitchen waste oil ＂flies to the sky＂
On the morning of July 11th, an order worth 140 million yuan was delivered, and a new order worth 100 million yuan was received immediately. Since July, the industrial-grade mixed oil products of Sichuan Jinshang Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. have ushered in an export explosion period. Even if the output is 200,000 tons at full capacity this year, there are still orders of more than 2 billion yuan that cannot be met. What is even more surprising than the order is that the industrial-grade blended oil purchased by overseas buyers is actually purified from China kitchen waste oil, and they will eventually "transform" into bio-aviation kerosene.
It is understood that bio-jet fuel is made of a variety of animal and vegetable oils and fats, and after technical treatment, it becomes sustainable aviation fuel, which has been used on some routes in Europe and America. Since the end of last year, the demand of European and American countries to import industrial-grade blended oil products from China has surged, and bio-jet fuel has been produced as raw materials.
Why has the purified food waste oil from China become a "hot potato" abroad? Bio-jet fuel is considered to be one of the best ways to reduce aviation carbon emissions, which is more than 80% lower than that of traditional aviation fuel. According to a new regulation of air transport industry passed by the European Parliament last year, the sustainable aviation fuel used by aircraft departing from EU airports should account for 2% of the total fuel by 2025, 20% by 2035 and 70% by 2050.
"China is the world’s largest producer of kitchen waste oil, and the application of bio-jet fuel has created an opportunity to turn waste into treasure." Ye Bin, the general manager of Jinshang Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd., and his team conducted in-depth research and found that compared with American enterprises producing bio-jet fuel mainly from corn oil and European enterprises producing bio-jet fuel mainly from rapeseed oil, the production cost of kitchen waste oil is not only lower, but also the maximum carbon emission reduction value can be obtained in the process of converting it into bio-jet fuel.
On Ye Bin’s desk, there are four glass bottles, which are filled with leftover hot pot oil, industrial-grade mixed oil after physical purification, chemically synthesized first-generation biodiesel and bio-jet fuel. This is also the whole process of kitchen waste oil "transforming" into vehicle fuel and bio-jet fuel. "After purchasing waste oil from restaurants, slaughterhouses and food processing plants, the key step is to extract industrial-grade mixed oil that meets the requirements. This raw material pretreatment technology is the core competitiveness. " Ye Bin revealed that with the technology of precipitation for more than 20 years, his team has recently successfully increased the conversion rate of industrial blended oil to 98%, and the conversion rate of bio-jet fuel to 75%, which is at the leading level in the world.
At present, China produces tens of millions of tons of kitchen waste oil every year, but it has not been converted into bio-jet fuel on a large scale in China, achieving greater economic value. Not long ago, Ye Bin’s team did another great thing: Sichuan and Chongqing are one of the main sources of waste oil in China. They invested 1.5 billion yuan to build a bio-jet fuel production base with an annual output of 400,000 tons in Sichuan, creating a whole industrial chain from recycling kitchen waste oil to converting bio-jet fuel. It is estimated that after the project is put into production next year, the export products of Jinshang Environmental Protection Technology Company will change from industrial mixed oil to bio-jet fuel, which is expected to realize large-scale export of bio-jet fuel. (Sichuan Daily all-media reporter Chen Bihong Zhang Shoushuai)