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Finnish renewable fuel provider Neste will triple the amount of used restaurant oil that its subsidiary collects to be used as a feedstock for powering planes and trucks, the company tells Axios.

Why it matters: There's a global shortage of sustainable aviation fuel made from bio-waste.

Details: Over the last three years, Neste has been on an acquisition spree to expand its on-the-ground logistics for collecting used cooking oil from restaurants.

The company first bought Mahoney Environmental, which subsequently snapped up SeQuential Environmental Services.

The result is that Neste, via Mahoney, is now collecting used cooking oil from 85,000 restaurants (including airport, theater and stadiums kitchens) across the U.S., representing a sprawling network of 700 employees and 500 pump trucks.

Most of Mahoney's drivers start their day around two o'clock in the morning, trying to beat traffic, and drive to over a dozen restaurants daily to pick up cooking oil from large tanks.

"It's a really complicated logistics puzzle," explained Mahoney Environmental CEO Dave Kimball.

Zoom in: Once the used cooking oil is collected from the tanks to the pump trucks, Mahoney cleans and ships it to Neste refineries, like a recently expanded one in Singapore.

Kimball says Mahoney will end 2023 having collected about 400 million pounds of used cooking oil, and will grow that amount to 630 million pounds by 2025, and over a billion by 2030.

Neste's focus on waste and residues (which includes animal fats) has evolved over the years. Originally Neste included palm oil as a feedstock, but today waste and residue account for over 90% of Neste's feedstocks.

Today, Neste's sustainable aviation fuel production capability is at about 365 million gallons globally, and by early 2024, that number is expected to reach 515 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel per year.

The big picture: The market for sustainable aviation fuel is still severely constrained.

Neste sells every drop of sustainable aviation fuel it can produce.

But the current volume of sustainable aviation fuel represents only 0.1% of jet fuel use, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance; a drop in the bucket filled with petroleum-based jet fuel.

If global sustainable aviation fuel isn't scaled up to meet demand, many in the aviation sector won't be able to meet proposed net zero goals.

Neste powers vehicles with used restaurant oils

Neste subsidiary collects the oil from 85,000 restaurants across the U.S.

A Neste tanker truck carrying sustainable aviation fuel at an airport

A Neste tanker truck carrying sustainable aviation fuel at an airport. Photo courtesy of Neste. 

Aviation

Finnish renewable fuel provider Neste will triple the amount of used restaurant oil that its subsidiary collects to be used as a feedstock for powering planes and trucks, the company tells Axios.Why it matters: There&#x27;s a global shortage of sustainable aviation fuel made from bio-waste.

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Neste powers vehicles with used restaurant oils

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