The launch of two new bio-based products is expected to help drive revenue next year for BBGI, the biotechnology arm of energy conglomerate Bangchak Corporation, says senior executive vice-president Daechapon Lersuwanaroj.
In 2025, the company plans to start producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as well as operate a new factory to produce an enzyme that can change agricultural waste into a variety of new products through cooperation with India-based Fermbox Bio, he said.
The construction of an 8.5-billion-baht SAF factory, located near Bangchak's refinery in Bangkok, is 77% complete and scheduled to start commercial operations by the second quarter of next year.
A biofuel for aircraft, SAF produces up to 80% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than conventional jet fuel, according to media reports citing various forecasts.
Bangchak plans to produce 1 million litres of SAF a day from used cooking oil. The company plans to buy the raw material from restaurants and people who can sell used cooking oil at 233 Bangchak petrol stations nationwide.
The factory will be operated by BSGF, Bangchak's SAF production and distribution subsidiary.
Bangchak holds a 51% share in BSGF, with 20% held by BBGI and the remaining 29% belonging to Thanachok Oil Light Co, which runs an integrated vegetable oil business.
Last month, Singapore-based Shell International Eastern Trading clinched an agreement with BBGI and Bangchak to buy certified used cooking oil-derived SAF from their factory.
The other bio-based product is to be produced by BBGI Fermbox Bio, a joint venture between BBGI, with a 75% investment, and Fermbox Bio, with a 25% investment.
BBGI Fermbox Bio plans to produce 200,000 litres of cellulosic enzyme from its factory in Chachoengsao, said Mr Daechapon. The cellulosic enzyme decomposes cellulose, a complex carbohydrate found in scrap wood, rice straw, cassava pulp and bagasse, and turns it into glucose.
Fermbox Bio specialises in the research and production of synbio products. Synbio refers to synthetic biology, a field of science that involves redesigning organisms, notably microbes, for specific purposes by engineering them to have new abilities.
BBGI plans to rack up revenue from sales of methyl ester, which can be mixed with diesel to make biodiesel, and ethanol, which is blended with gasoline to make gasohol.
Methyl ester and ethanol are two core products for the company. For the first nine months this year, methyl ester generated 76% of total revenue, with the remainder coming from ethanol.
BBGI wants to improve productivity and control production costs for these two products next year, said Mr Daechapon.
He played down the government's recent enforcement of a new biodiesel formula, with methyl ester's proportion falling from 7% to 5%, noting it should not have a significant impact on the company's business.
In another development, BBGI teamed up with two Singapore-based companies -- Keppel and CleanEdge -- to jointly develop a bio-LNG business in Thailand.
Bio-LNG, also known as liquefied biomethane, is a biofuel made from biogas through a process called anaerobic digestion, which can potentially replace fossil fuel-derived liquefied natural gas (LNG). BBGI expects its bio-LNG factory with a daily production capacity of 130 tonnes to start operations in 2027.