Eni signs MOU with Tunia to develop castor as sustainable biofuel feedstock

In Italy, Eni and the SNDP (Societè National de Distribution des Petroles AGIL SpA), signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Tunisian Ministry of Industry, in the presence of the Tunisian Minister of Industry, Selim Feriani, on joint collaboration, through a joint company, to cultivate castor at a semi-industrial level used to produce sustainable biofuels, which is already being trialed by Eni in the Gafsa area.

This will be the world’s first example of semi-industrial non-food being cultivated in a pre-desert area to generate sustainable Biofuels, and it will make environmentally friendly vegetable oil available as an alternative to gradually replace palm oil, which phase out by 2030 has been decided at EU level.

Eni’s research and experimentation in the Gafsa area, which produced excellent agronomic results, involved the University of Catania (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment) in everything relating to plant yields, and the Technopole de Borj Cedria of Tunisia on aspects relating to agro-geological cultivation and sustainability.