Total to start up La Mede biorefinery in two weeks with palm oil as planned

In France, Reuters reports that Total’s CEO has confirmed production at the La Mede biorefinery will start up in two weeks and will use palm oil as feedstock despite protests from environmental activists and domestic farmers alike. The company plans to use loopholes in European law allowing the use of palm oil produced by smallholder farmers or on unused land, otherwise it says the $223 million revamp project will never be financially competitive. Less than half of the 650,000 metric tons of feedstock required annually will come from palm oil with the rest coming from waste feedstocks and domestic vegetable oil.