The South African petrochemicals giant Sasol, mining group Anglo American, and its diamond division De Beers signed a cooperative development agreement to test the manufacture of sustainable diesel from vegetable oil.
Sasol entered into a joint development agreement on Tuesday with De Beers to pilot the production of renewable diesel from vegetable oil, according to a report by Retures.
As outlined in the agreement reached at the annual African Mining Indaba in Cape Town, the partners will assess the technical and financial feasibility of feedstock production, according to business representatives who spoke to reporters.
Speaking at the event, Alison Atkinson, Director at Anglo American, said:
“The crops for the trial vegetable oil feedstock, initially the Solaris and Moringa plants, will be grown on the more than 20-hectare tracts of land provided by De Beers,”
Atkinson also mentioned that the trials for producing renewable fuel have begun, and pre-feasibility studies have been authorized. De Beers activities will use the resulting fuel.
Meanwhile, Sasol earlier announced their plans to lower emissions 30% by 2030, which hinges on replacing some of the dirtiest fossil fuel with gas.
The Johannesburg-based company majorly uses coal as part of a synthetic production process at its Secunda operation, which is the world’s largest single-point emitter of greenhouse gas.
In addition, the company promotes biofuels, made from plant materials or animal waste, as an alternative fuel to help reduce carbon emissions.
Despite the fact that South Africa’s renewable diesel production is not yet commercially viable, Sasol claims that the country’s renewable fuels industry is promising due to consumer demand and decarbonization goals.
Sarushen Pillay, executive vice president at Sasol, further commented at the signing ceremony.
“Renewable diesel is transformative. It meets the technical standards of conventional diesel while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
