Japanese refiner Idemitsu plans to begin commercial supply of imported biodiesel to domestic consumers from early 2025, as part of its efforts to decarbonise its fuel business.
Idemitsu plans to purchase biomass-based diesel — generated through hydro processed ester and fatty acids (HEFA)-method — from unspecified Asian countries for sale to domestic consumers, it said in a release today.
Idemitsu started the test supply and the use of the fuel at domestic construction company Obayashi's work site in mid-November, with Japanese fuel delivery firm Matsubayashi in charge of fuel shipping. The partners aim to assess the impact of biodiesel on construction vehicles during the demonstration. Idemitsu expects the demonstration to help it understand potential domestic demand for the fuel and logistical issues.
But partners declined to disclose until when they will continue the demonstration, while Obayashi said there has been no significant impact on construction vehicles so far.
Idemitsu declined to reveal its sales prices in the future and its supply capacity of imported biodiesel.
With the introduction of biodiesel, Idemitsu plans to achieve carbon neutrality, estimating its biodiesel to cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80pc from conventional diesel.
The refiner, together with industrial gas supplier Air Water, has been supplying B5 biodiesel to domestic construction company Kashima since June 2024.
Idemitsu manufactures diesel at its refinery in the northernmost prefecture Hokkaido, while Air Water produces biodiesel from Idemitsu's diesel by using used cooking oil (UCO) collected from kitchens at Seicomart convenience stores in Hokkaido.
It also plans to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as well as by-product biodiesel at its Tokuyama plant in western prefecture Yamaguchi from the April 2028-March 2029 fiscal year.
