Italy. Biofuels Overview. Jan 2016 Jan. 7, 2016
Report Highlights:
Italy's biodiesel capacity stands at approximately 2 Million Metric Tons (MMT). Italian biodiesel operators include two categories: biodiesel producers and oilseed crushers. The latter produce pure vegetal oil for biofuels as well as the agro-food industry.
Biodiesel
Italy's biodiesel capacity stands at approximately 2 Million Metric Tons (MMT). Italian biodiesel operators include two categories: biodiesel producers and oilseed crushers. The latter produce pure vegetal oil for biofuels as well as the agro-food industry. Some of the oilseed crushers also engage in producing biodiesel. Biodiesel in Italy is produced mainly from imported rapeseed (40 percent), soybean (30 percent), and palm oil (25 percent). The remainder is made of recycled vegetable oils, sunflower oil, and animal fats. Rapeseed oil is mostly imported from EU countries (France, Germany, Czech Republic, and Romania), while soybean oil is either imported from the EU or domestically produced from imported beans. Palm oil is chiefly imported by Indonesia and Malaysia. Biodiesel in Italy is exclusively used in blends with traditional diesel for transport or diesel for heating.
Italy's Leading Biodiesel Imports
Year Ending: December | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | ||||
Partner Country | Unit | USD | Quantity | USD | Quantity | USD | Quantity |
World | T | 1,602,879,629 | 1,320,467 | 1,593,817,629 | 1,431,060 | 704,297,438 | 690,079 |
Spain | T | 332,081,083 | 270,641 | 662,188,659 | 596,490 | 258,098,151 | 249,860 |
Netherlands | T | 311,494,302 | 234,095 | 268,279,503 | 212,719 | 139,280,598 | 136,367 |
Germany | T | 66,752,599 | 48,668 | 122,921,874 | 95,561 | 101,697,696 | 89,865 |
Greece | T | - | - | 33,807,125 | 32,766 | 70,736,807 | 90,307 |
Belgium | T | 115,452,293 | 96,006 | 68,872,552 | 55,956 | 69,447,290 | 62,826 |
Austria | T | 17,358,287 | 12,965 | 39,297,049 | 31,247 | 46,063,655 | 40,603 |
Slovenia | T | 9,979,699 | 12,024 | 4,418,415 | 4,680 | 4,801,062 | 5,823 |
Albania | T | 22,169,333 | 17,615 | 19,943 | 17 | 3,956,864 | 5,006 |
Romania | T | - | - | - | - | 3,872,068 | 3,999 |
France | T | 16,786,344 | 11,615 | 21,996,790 | 17,626 | 2,542,353 | 2,139 |
Czech Republic | T | 435,051 | 335 | 7,795,409 | 6,502 | 2,220,396 | 2,028 |
Cyprus | T | - | - | 2,975,457 | 2,893 | 1,073,940 | 1,075 |
Philippines | T | 166,385 | 82 | 71,520 | 40 | 300,400 | 122 |
United Kingdom | T | 10,631 | 1 | 186,993,070 | 206,911 | 90,370 | 14 |
Australia | T | - | - | - | - | 58,948 | 25 |
Hungary | T | 2,869,445 | 2,021 | 7,073 | 2 | 14,683 | 8 |
Sweden | T | 2,749 | - | 2,491 | - | 532 | - |
Tunisia | T | 24,910 | 21 | - | - | - | - |
Italy's Leading Biodiesel Exports
Year Ending: December | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | ||||
Partner Country | Unit | USD | Quantity | USD | Quantity | USD | Quantity |
World | T | 1,264,551,158 | 1,167,468 | 848,439,086 | 845,795 | 648,555,559 | 645,046 |
Austria | T | 306,722,833 | 288,919 | 231,724,871 | 223,910 | 221,662,046 | 229,880 |
Spain | T | 695,456,971 | 652,922 | 356,725,564 | 373,763 | 213,202,325 | 219,084 |
Slovenia | T | 136,540,714 | 126,905 | 189,865,351 | 183,626 | 83,379,379 | 79,759 |
France | T | 38,707,693 | 28,261 | 46,964,393 | 44,818 | 77,374,876 | 67,758 |
Romania | T | 3,646,958 | 2,755 | 81,309 | 32 | 36,042,411 | 32,974 |
Vatican City State | T | 8,647,709 | 8,119 | 8,014,752 | 7,769 | 7,515,269 | 7,461 |
Greece | T | 14,241,441 | 10,034 | 7,185,598 | 5,894 | 4,506,402 | 4,362 |
Netherlands | T | 4,654,946 | 3,276 | 5,354,231 | 4,066 | 3,669,999 | 3,071 |
Switzerland | T | - | - | - | - | 748,701 | 601 |
Albania | T | 5,370,437 | 5,672 | - | - | 157,919 | 17 |
Tunisia | T | 165,721 | 75 | 172,417 | 58 | 70,817 | 31 |
Turkey | T | - | - | - | - | 68,112 | 30 |
Germany | T | 271,627 | 223 | 196,510 | 124 | 57,671 | - |
Hong Kong | T | - | - | - | - | 25,272 | - |
Croatia | T | - | - | - | - | 21,722 | 5 |
Poland | T | - | - | 16,257 | 5 | 21,329 | 6 |
Egypt | T | - | - | - | - | 11,881 | 2 |
Belgium | T | - | - | 2,853 | 1 | 8,444 | 3 |
Jordan | T | - | - | - | - | 5,044 | 1 |
Bioethanol
Italy's bioethanol capacity is approximately 215,000 MT per year. Cereals (corn and wheat), wine, and wine byproducts (wine pomace and dregs) are responsible for the majority of the Italian ethanol production. However, only a limited portion of the total output is fuel ethanol, while the remainder is destined to industrial chemicals.
Italy's Leading Bioethanol Imports
Year Ending: December | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | ||||
Partner Country | Unit | USD | Quantity | USD | Quantity | USD | Quantity |
World | T | 421,566,113 | 349,316 | 293,097,529 | 269,838 | 148,878,247 | 156,532 |
France | T | 133,869,409 | 102,278 | 106,338,034 | 88,541 | 55,768,012 | 57,399 |
Pakistan | T | 2,137,156 | 2,086 | 10,187,671 | 10,899 | 13,454,990 | 14,745 |
Belgium | T | 16,574,079 | 13,358 | 11,648,111 | 9,296 | 13,028,967 | 12,159 |
Egypt | T | 35,708,480 | 39,801 | 26,830,107 | 30,533 | 12,007,754 | 14,531 |
Sudan | T | 7,967,035 | 8,229 | 3,626,451 | 4,051 | 9,691,378 | 12,330 |
United Kingdom | T | 2,137,984 | 1,663 | 8,846,661 | 7,140 | 9,603,871 | 9,692 |
Bolivia | T | - | - | 11,362,517 | 13,813 | 6,143,263 | 7,345 |
Hungary | T | 2,205,070 | 2,066 | 2,265,353 | 1,971 | 5,965,301 | 7,138 |
Spain | T | 148,116,981 | 113,862 | 60,603,242 | 60,754 | 5,823,069 | 7,705 |
Germany | T | 9,566,524 | 7,699 | 5,269,080 | 3,901 | 3,947,700 | 3,028 |
Peru | T | - | - | - | - | 2,473,656 | 2,362 |
Bulgaria | T | 4,134,488 | 3,688 | 2,399,455 | 2,198 | 1,945,986 | 1,521 |
Romania | T | 21,148,028 | 21,786 | 20,551,763 | 19,259 | 1,897,611 | 2,531 |
Switzerland | T | 113,869 | 5 | 112,935 | 5 | 1,761,075 | 1,269 |
Netherlands | T | 3,783,926 | 2,936 | 5,636,134 | 4,246 | 1,369,928 | 1,194 |
Slovakia | T | 2,495 | 2 | 6,675,820 | 5,543 | 969,909 | 778 |
Ukraine | T | 677,748 | 45 | 859,985 | 54 | 915,208 | 50 |
Japan | T | 444,388 | 5 | 556,066 | 6 | 722,995 | 8 |
Brazil | T | 346,613 | 27 | 560,032 | 38 | 579,318 | 36 |
Italy's Leading Bioethanol Exports
Year Ending: December | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | ||||
Partner Country | Unit | USD | Quantity | USD | Quantity | USD | Quantity |
World | T | 54,608,642 | 31,796 | 77,804,254 | 42,840 | 51,427,929 | 34,852 |
Spain | T | 19,813,387 | 10,418 | 38,244,817 | 16,144 | 25,188,726 | 15,666 |
France | T | 18,402,688 | 11,105 | 18,325,673 | 11,946 | 11,900,926 | 9,508 |
Greece | T | 3,025,146 | 1,366 | 3,094,782 | 1,145 | 3,707,728 | 1,234 |
Netherlands | T | 205,991 | 74 | 2,021,178 | 2,594 | 2,668,890 | 4,006 |
Germany | T | 3,550,482 | 2,731 | 2,928,128 | 2,151 | 2,283,085 | 1,512 |
United States | T | 701,566 | 354 | 1,520,436 | 709 | 1,260,925 | 675 |
Switzerland | T | 539,723 | 272 | 487,266 | 219 | 915,686 | 418 |
Finland | T | 43,644 | 26 | 774,875 | 324 | 677,602 | 299 |
Austria | T | 1,248,265 | 1,031 | 1,244,058 | 1,113 | 670,530 | 505 |
Vatican City State | T | 262,614 | 116 | 306,930 | 165 | 471,346 | 204 |
Senegal | T | 288,522 | 178 | 284,382 | 181 | 241,757 | 162 |
United Kingdom | T | 210,496 | 85 | 321,147 | 114 | 231,518 | 84 |
Lithuania | T | - | - | - | - | 223,507 | 99 |
Belgium | T | 21,592 | 11 | 39,972 | 18 | 149,694 | 69 |
Slovenia | T | 458,904 | 353 | 164,351 | 128 | 143,891 | 113 |
Sweden | T | 232,560 | 86 | 5,652,061 | 4,391 | 135,844 | 50 |
Moldova | T | 60,690 | 22 | 319,315 | 88 | 117,348 | 43 |
Malta | T | 13,282 | 8 | 80,124 | 43 | 97,888 | 45 |
Poland | T | 2,145 | - | 12,787 | 3 | 71,289 | 24 |
Abbreviations and definitions used in this report
Biodiesel: Fatty acid methyl ester produced from agricultural feedstock (vegetable oils, animal fat, recycled cooking oils) used as transport fuel to substitute for petroleum diesel.
HS Codes: 27102011; 38260010; 38260090
Bioethanol: Ethanol produced from agricultural feedstock used as transport fuel
HS Codes: 2207; 29091910
HS: Harmonized System of tariff codes
MMT: Million Metric Tons
MT: Metric ton (1,000 kg)
1 MT Biodiesel 1,136 liters
1 MT Ethanol 1,267 liters
