Forest residues can be an important raw material for future Swedish HVO production

The demand for hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) has increased in recent years and it is now the dominant liquid biofuel on the Swedish market. However, only 5% of the 14 TWh HVO sold in Sweden in 2018 was produced from domestic raw material.

The possibilities to increase the use of domestic raw materials for HVO production in Sweden is currently investigated in the project Sustainable HVO production potential and environmental impact. The first part of the project has assessed the current (year 2020) and future (year 2050) potential supply of domestic feedstock for HVO production in Sweden. Results are now published in an interim report.

The assessment included raw materials already used today, such as tall oil (a residue from the pulp and paper industry) and used cooking oil, as well as raw materials and technologies with future potential (such as microbial oils or microalgae). The focus was on the Swedish potential to supply renewable oils and fats that can be produced under Nordic conditions.

The results indicated that lignocellulosic materials such as forest residues have high future potential for HVO production. The available economic potential by 2050 is estimated to 7.07 TWh per year. However, to utilize the full potential, certain technologies need to be developed further.

The domestic supply of waste and residual oils, such as used cooking oil from households and restaurants, slaughterhouse waste fats etc., have relatively low technical potential; 0.13 TWh per year by 2020, and 0.54 TWh per year by 2050. Oilseed crops also show a low potential, but are still interesting since they are exempted from the cap on food and feed crops in the EU Renewable Energy Directive. Therefore, demand for these might increase in the future.

Download the report here.