ORLEN achieved National Indicative Target for 2009
In 2009 PKN ORLEN introduced overall 510 thousand tons of bio-components and biofuels to the Polish market meeting therefore the National Indicative Target with a surplus. Consequently the reduction in carbon dioxide emission from fuels occurred by approximately 540 thousand tons.
PKN ORLEN is consistently implementing the strategy for implementation of biofuels and bio-components adopted in 2007. At the beginning of 2009 the last stage of the investment program was finished, which involved adjusting fuel terminals to blend esters with diesel fuel. Thanks to these investments the logistics network of PKN ORLEN reached the optimal level of adjustment to meet requirements of the Act on biofuels. Moreover, the availability of Bioester for individual customers was consistently increased. As a result, in the previous year this biofuel was sold in 324 Bliska petrol stations.
In the previous year, over 130 thousand tons of bio-ethanol to manufacture fuels and over 290 thousand tons of esters for diesel were used in the company. The sales of Bioester (constituting pure fuel), which was available in wholesale and retail network was also increased by approx. 50% (up to over 90 thousand tons). The National Indicative Target was met at the level of 4.62% (the required level for 2009 was 4.6%).
The use of Bioester results in the reduction in emission of carbon oxides, solid particles and sulfur compounds. By using bio-components and biofuels PKN ORLEN managed to reduce the level of greenhouse gas emission from fuels (as equivalent of carbon dioxide) overall by over 540 thousand tons (estimated value calculated providing the guidelines of Directives on the quality of fuels and on renewable energy sources for average standard emission rates).
The introduction of bio-components in fuels comes with the increase in production costs due to higher prices of bio-components in comparison to those from crude oil. Despite the change in the level of excise relief in October 2009 and the adoption of more beneficial fiscal solutions for Bioester, the cost of implementation of such quantity of bio-components in fuels in 2009 amounted to over 170 million PLN.
The duty to ensure an appropriate share of bio-components in fuels lies also with the companies belonging to the ORLEN Group - Unipetrol (Czech Republic) and Orlen Lietuva (Lithuania). Both companies met in 2009 their national requirements regarding the share of bio-components by incorporating bio-ethanol and ETBE in petrol, esters in diesel and additionally, in the case of the Czech market, also biofuel B31 (diesel with 31% share of ester).
- The previous year was a challenge when it comes to meeting the requirements of NIT, but we managed to fulfill obligations imposed by the legislator. I hope that Poland, walking in the footsteps of other European countries, will quickly implement regulations enabling to increase the share of bio-components in fuels and we will be able to end the current year with as good results as in the previous one - Jacek Krawiec, CEO of PKN ORLEN said.
The year 2010 will be very demanding for companies from the petrochemical sector, among others due to raising the requirement of the share of renewable fuels in Poland up to 5.75% based on energy content while keeping the existing quality restrictions in the use of bio-components: bio-additives may still be blended only up to the level of 5% in volume. In April 2010 the introduction of more restrictive regulations regarding biofuels in the Czech Republic is also expected.
