The Liberec- based company Temperatior is regarded as a leader in its field, particularly on a European scale. It specializes in processing waste animal fats and producing advanced biofuels. We discussed the field Temperatior operates in with its CEO, Lukáš Marek.
How signigcant of a biodiesel producer are you?
Our capacity represents roughly one percent of diesel consumption in the Czech Republic. If we exclude biodiesel made from food and feed crops, we are the largest Czech producer of biodiesel from waste materials. If we narrow the focus to waste animal fats, which we specialize in, we are the largest in Central and Eastern Europe and quite significant on a Europeean scale.
What are the main differences between FAME and HVO biodiesels?
The abbreviations themselves hold the clues (FAME = fatty acid methyl esters, and HVO = hydrotreated vegetable oil). Technologically, these are two different processing methods. While FAME production involves chemically and thermally “modifying
and filtering” carbon chains, in HVO production, they are “broken down with hydrogen and rearranged.” The HVO abbreviation is a bit misleading, as both biofuels are produced from the same raw material base, i.e., both vegetable and animal fats. At the same time, the terminological inaccuracy is not accidental - HVO production is more sensitive to raw material quality, and waste animal fats can be processed within HVO production only to a limited extent, with diffculty and at a high cost. The difference lies in the final quality and price. The main advantage of HVO over FAME is that up to one hundred percent of it can be used, and after isomerization, it can even be used as aviation fuel. However, the production is more expensive, and in terms of quality, HVO has certain drawbacks. For engines optimized for fossil diesel, the disadvantages are the lower density of HVO and its low lubricity. In simplified terms, FAME makes more sense primarily from an economic standpoint, up to about a ten percent concentration of biodiesel in the resulting diesel mixture. For higher biodiesel concentrations in diesel (and for aviation fuel), HVO is more suitable.
There has been a lot of talk this year about your company in connection with the biofuel TME. Could you briefly explain what it is?
TME stands for tallow methyl ester, which is a FAME-type biodiesel made from waste animal fats, our specialty. From an ecological point of view, the raw material is ideal, as it is a waste product for which the only alternative is industrial incineration. But utilized in transportation, it gains much higher added value. From a manufacturing perspective, processing of waste animal fats is the most complex from the entire spectrum of materials. This is also the most valuable aspect of our work - we can process even the lowest-quality waste fats. In terms of volume, TME is and will remain a limited minority component of the overall energy needs in transportation due to the limited availability of the raw material. However, in terms of quality, TME is very beneficial for the resulting blended diesel, as it has a high cetane number, stability over time, cleaning properties, and improves combustion processes in engines.
The FAME production line can make a clear liquid from contaminated animal fat which ends up being mixed with diesel.
What do you think is the future of combustion engines in today’s Green- Deal era?
Currently, there is an EU ban on combustion engines set for 2035. But I’ll add in the same breath that we don’t believe it will happen. When transitioning to renewable energy sources, we see one fundamental rule. Whether you consider liquid biofuels (FAME and HVO instead of diesel, or bioethanol instead of gasoline), electromobility, biomethane, hydrogen, or synthetic fuels, each form has its own limit of usage share, beyond which the marginal costs of further growth increase dramatically past acceptable limits. This leads us to conclude that all forms will be needed in some share (and in varying shares depending on the region), and there is no “winner takes all.” And liquid biofuels, which would be excluded in a combustion engine ban, are capable of covering about twenty percent of the demand, which is not insignificant. Moreover, compared to other forms of renewable energy in transportation, they are the most readily available and are relatively cheap. They have one major advantage over all other forms - they can fully utilize the existing infrastructure and vehicle fleet without any changes, thus eliminating the need for investment.
You used to export most of your output. Has the share of biodiesel in engine diesel fuel grown in Czechia?
Our current commercial priority is to utilize our production regionally, even though we’ve predominantly exported most of our output to Western and Southern Europe. It makes the most ecological and economic sense to consume locally. Historically, our domestic market was saturated with MeŘo (FAME from rapeseed oil), which influenced trade practices and the standards of quality regulatory requirements. However, with the introduction of stricter climate demands and limitations on the use of food and feed crops, this situation is set to change.
What is the optimal path from you to the end customer?
From the producer’s perspective, it’s the path that is shortest. From that perspective, the optimal approach is to incorporate TME at a stable percentage into the FAME component for its quality benefits. The limitation of TME is its higher sulfur content and higher freezing point, so these limits need to be compensated with other FAME components, primarily of plant origin, or with fossil diesel. This way, the producer gets a relatively cheap decrease in emissions and improves the quality of blended diesel. In blended fuel TME behaves like an additive to premium diesel, but due to the aforementioned limitations, it trades at a discount (for example, compared to FAME made from used cooking oils). If the producer doesn’t balance all the components, the margin goes to the FAME wholesaler, the so-called “blender,” who does the work for them.
Would a connection between you and HVO manufacturers be optimal? Would it make more sense?
Using TME as an additive to HVO is, in my view, the greatest opportunity for utilizing TME. In collaboration with VÚZT, ČVUT, and VŠCHT, both from a physicochemical analysis and engine testing perspective, we have confirmed that a blend of TME and HVO is the ideal base for premium diesel with high biofuel content. My working title for it is “Premium Diesel 2030”. TME compensates for HVO’s limitations (low density, low lubricity), and HVO compensates for TME’s limitations (sulfur content and freezing point). Both components excel with high cetane numbers and stability, and TME provides
TME
Temperatior has been active in the market for over 10 years, exporting its production from its Liberec facility to EU countries, including top global manufacturers. The company’s annual TME output is approximately 55,000 tons.
Among its key clients are major global players and petrochemical companies such as Vitol/VARO, ENI, Total, Shell, Petroineos, Alpha Trading, and others.
Developing the optimal biofuel from waste animal products took several years and involved collaboration with experts from the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague. The TME, developed and tested in Liberec, can be blended into diesel fuel or used on its own. Its primary advantages include lower CO2 emissions compared to conventional fuels, significantly reducing its carbon footprint. Additionally, it has technical benefits for diesel engines due to its cleaning properties.
