On Thursday, LG Chem Ltd. announced a partnership with a division of Italian energy giant Eni S.p.A to assess the possibility of developing a biorefinery in South Korea. The objective of the collaboration is to increase the production of sustainable fuels and plastics. If the project is approved, the biorefinery would be built in LG Chem’s Daesan chemical complex, located 80 km southwest of Seoul.
The two companies are conducting a feasibility study, and the decision is expected to be made by 2024. The plant, which is scheduled to be completed by 2026, will be able to process 400,000 tons of bio feedstocks each year using Eni’s technology, in collaboration with Honeywell UOP, an American refinery solutions provider. The joint venture is in line with the global trend of decarbonization, and the plant will have the capacity to process renewable bio feedstocks and produce multiple products, such as sustainable aviation fuel, hydrotreated vegetable oil, and bio naphtha.
LG Chem has already been utilizing bio naphtha to manufacture green plastic products since 2020, and in 2021, the company began exporting its first bio-balanced super absorbent polymer products to international markets. As part of the collaboration, Eni will provide LG Chem with sustainable feedstock based on waste and residue from the processing of vegetable oils, used cooking oil, and vegetable oils from drought-resistant crops in degraded or abandoned soils.
This photo shows LG Chem’s Daesan chemical complex, in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, about 80 kilometers southwest of Seoul, as provided by the company on Sept. 14, 2023. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
elly@yna.co.kr
(END)