Production has begun at the Green Bison soyabean processing facility in Spiritwood – a joint venture between global agribusiness giant Archers Daniels Midland (ADM) and US refiner Marathon Petroleum.
North Dakota’s first dedicated soyabean crushing plant and refinery, the US$350M complex at the Spiritwood Energy Park Association’s industrial park and would help meet rising demand for renewable fuel, in this case renewable green diesel, the companies said on 14 November.
ADM holds a 75% share in the venture with the remaining share owned by Marathon Petroleum.
With a processing capacity of 150,000 bushels/day of soyabeans, the companies said the complex would produce approximately 272,155 tonnes/year of refined soyabean oil to be used in the production of approximately 284M litres/year of renewable green diesel.
“The continued growth in demand for renewable green diesel presents a transformative opportunity for the oilseed industry, for producers, and for increasing the sustainability footprint of our transportation system,” Greg Morris, president of ADM’s Ag Services & Oilseeds business, said.
Meanwhile, Marathon Petroleum’s renewable diesel joint venture at its Martinez refinery in California was expected to be operating at its full 2.7bn litres/year capacity by the end of the year, Biomass magazine reported.
Developed in partnership with Finnish renewable fuels producer Neste, the biorefinery reached full Phase I production capacity of 984M litres/year the first quarter of this year, the 31 October report said.
Phase II activities to add a feedstock pretreatment unit and boost capacity to its full capacity started earlier this year, Biomass magazine wrote.
