Repsol YPF

Repsol YPF and innovation in the field of biofuels

 What is the CENIT programme?

The CENIT programme (Consorcios Estratégicos Nacionales de Investigación Técnica - National Strategic Consortia for Technological Research), is promoted by the Spanish State in the context of its programme to foster stable public/private cooperation on R+D+i. Its intention is to promote and develop great industrial research projects of a strategic nature. The consortia must be made up of a minimum of four companies, two large and two small, as well as at least two research bodies subcontracted by the companies comprising the consortium. At least 25% of the project's total budget must be invested in this development subcontract and the budget must consist of a sum of between 20 and 40 million Euros (€) for the four-year duration of the project. The project must be led by a company with sufficient significance and technological capacity and is financed by up to 50% through the CDTI (Centre for Industrial Technological Development).

Why undertake a CENIT project to develop and promote Biodiesel?

The development of biofuels forms part of the European, and particularly the Spanish, energy strategy, principally due to the fact that they contribute to reducing global emissions of greenhouse gases, a cause of climate change, and to diversifying energy sources, thus reducing the dependence on oil. In the short term, Spain and the rest of the countries of the European Union have undertaken to ensure that biofuels make up a proportion of at least 5.75% of the fuels used for transportation by the year 2010. To date, the volume of biofuels produced in the European Union has been much lower than hoped, due to the difficulty of competing with oil products in terms of the availability of raw materials, high production costs and other barriers resulting from the quality specifications that are required of automotive fuels. Research and technical development can contribute to eliminating or reducing these barriers which prevent biofuels from entering the market.

Biodiesel in particular, which is understood to be the group of products derived from raw vegetable or animal material that can be used as a substitute for or a complement to automotive gas-oils and gas-oils for other uses, appears to be the biofuel that best fits in with the European and Spanish markets, which have a great deficit in gas-oils, but a surplus in petrol.
Along these lines, just a few days ago, Repsol YPF, in its committment to the protection of the environment and the promotion of biodiversity, signed a framework agreement for the construction and development, in Spain, of biodiesel plants that will be able to produce over one million tons per year, using, as a raw material, the aforementioned unused vegetable oils. This agreement involves an investment estimated at 300 million Euros and has greater scope than any agreement signed in the world to date within the field of biodiesel. This great investment requires the best knowledge of the raw materials, the process and the characteristics of the product, in order to ensure its success. It is for that reason that committing to an R+D+i project of this magnitude, in association with the most important companies and the centres with the best resources in this field, is the best decision and also guarantees the use of the best development processes and resources in its introduction into industry.  

What is the specific objective of the CENIT Biodiesel project?

To contribute to the introduction of biodiesel onto the national market through an R+D programme aimed at reducing production costs, increasing the availability of local raw materials and finding new and better applications for these products, as implied by its acronym, "PiIBE": Proyecto de innovación para el Impulso del Biodiesel en España (Innovation Project for the Promotion of Biodiesel in Spain).

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