Irish biodiesel manufacturer, Green BioFuels Ireland (GBI), has opened a new office in Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) to study the sourcing of biodiesel feedstock in the Middle East.

The JAFZA office will carry out a feasibility study of sources for sustainable waste oils and residues in the Middle East to be converted into biodiesel, GBI's Operations & Finance Director Tony Hennebry told Zawya Projects.

The company's sole production facility, with an annual capacity of 34,000 tonnes, is located at its headquarters in County Wexford, Ireland.

Currently, the two main feedstock sources are tallow -non-food or feed - from the renderers and used vegetable cooking oil from various restaurants and collectors.

"We convert waste fats and oils into useable biodiesel making it such a good sustainability option," said Hennebry. "Our production methods are designed to maximise recycling opportunities and ensure 100 percent environmental efficiency in output."

Hennebry emphasised that long-term sourcing from the Middle East would be a priority for the company.

"We're always on the lookout for potential expansion of our supply chains globally, on a medium to long-term scale, as opposed to narrowing our supply to just European countries," he said.

Last month, Reuters, quoting a Barclays analyst, reported that with biofuel demand growing sharply in Europe and United States, prices for feedstock - vegetable oil and oil produced from waste - will likely "inevitably" increase.

The feedstock sourced from the region would need to conform to European Union (EU) rules, according to the GBI official.

"In EU legislation, advanced biofuels are defined by the feedstock used. These are listed in Part A of Annex IX of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED-II)," he said.

While GBI is focussed on Irish refineries and oil distributors, and exports to Europe, it is also exploring other international markets, Middle East included, as demand increases for more sustainable options such as biodiesel, said Hennebry.

"In this research phase, we are exploring local partners in the [Middle East] region. Clearly, we do think there would be a growing demand for more sustainable options in the near future."

Hennebry also disclosed that COVID-19 hasn't "greatly affected" the company's supply chain.

"We source mainly animal fats and renderers which are considered an essential service; hence, we were able to continue production. We did experience some changes to our used cooking oil sources shifting from restaurants as less people were eating out to an increase from food take-away establishments.

(Reporting by Anoop Menon; Editing by Seban Scaria)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

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