Sumitomo eyes mass biodiesel production in Japan

Sumitomo Corp is looking to mass-produce biodiesel in Japan using wood and sugarcane waste.
The Japanese trading house plans to open a demonstration plant in 2025 on the southern island of Tanegashima with the University of Tokyo and Solariant Capital, a US renewable energy development and investment company.
After testing and getting mass production underway, the company plans to gradually increase output starting in fiscal 2027, aiming to eventually reach 1 million tonnes per year.
The facility will use wood from tree thinning and sugarcane bagasse -- a fibrous residue -- from a Tanegashima factory owned by Sumitomo group company Shinko Sugar.
The 1 million tonne production target is equivalent to 5% of Japan's fiscal 2022 automotive diesel consumption of 20 million tonnes.
Sumitomo will leverage its group's reach to procure waste from domestic tree thinning operations, said to total 77 million tonnes a year.