Neutral Fuels first in the world to created dairy waste-based biofuel

Dubai-based Neutral Fuels has become the first company to successfully use butter, cream, and ghee waste as a feedstock for creating commercial biofuel.

The new fuel is of the same quality as the vegetable oil-derived biofuel that Neutral Fuels produces and which has fuelled McDonald's UAE's logistics fleet for almost seven million kilometres over the past four years.

Karl W Feilder, chairman and CEO at Neutral Fuels, said the company was inspired by Dubai Municipality's "Zero Waste by 2030" target.

"Dubai is one of the few places in the world with a proper clean energy vision and a commitment to achieving 100% recycling," said Feilder.

"We concur with engineer Abdulmajeed Abdulaziz Saifaie, director of the waste management department, when he says Dubai has to shift from waste collection to sustainable and innovative waste management. This includes more recycling, more waste-to-energy plants, and more investment in this field."

Neutral Fuels participates on all three levels, as it is one of Dubai's most successful recycling companies, its biorefinery is an example of a waste-to-energy plant, and its ongoing research into new production techniques and feedstocks represents an investment in zero waste.

“We really want to inspire other companies to find new uses for their waste. Every dairy operation produces a small percentage of waste, plus it always has to dispose of outdated produce. Turning that into biofuel is the most useful thing to do with it," Feilder added.

According to research company Mordor Intelligence, the UAE is the second largest producer of dairy products in the Gulf region after Saudi Arabia and is expected to experience swift growth through 2021.

The UAE's annual fresh milk production is 167,000 tonnes, and every 1% of waste that is processed into biofuel will result in 1.67 million litres of biofuel, which will reduce the carbon footprint by 4,460 tonnes of carbon and equivalents.

Adding the waste from making butter, cream and ghee, the volume of biofuel from the dairy industry could more than double.