These two companies are responsible for the development of the microorganism Neoleum™, which can produce biofuels from organic and industrial waste; its major breakthrough is that the production process takes place much faster compared to cultivating palm, rapeseed or sunflower oils.

Spanish biotech firm Neuron Bio, together with oil giant Repsol, share ownership of Neol. This joint venture company has now patented the microorganism Neoleum™, which was cultivated in a bioreactor measuring one cubic meter over the course of a year.

This process generates as much oil as is produced by one hectare of oil palm in the same amount of time. The microorganism that was chosen and improved by Noel produces oils that are very versatile. Thanks to their composition they are ideal raw materials to make biofuels like biodiesel and biokerosene, or for use in other industrial applications such as biolubricants or surfactants.

With this technology it’s no longer necessary to employ resources that could be used to make food in order to produce energy, and waste can be managed more sustainably.

Neol’s short term challenge is to scale up this technology to an industrial level, in order to produce large quantities of these oils to supply biodiesel producers.