KPetro secures insect-based biofuel technology

In South Korea, Korea Petroleum Management Service has secured biodiesel production technology using insect resources (Dongae, etc.).

With the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs since 2018, the Korea Petroleum Management Service succeeded in developing a technology to convert promising industrial insect resources into biodiesel through joint research with Green Tech, Dongguk University, and Sejong University. The results of this study were published in the latest online edition of Environmental Engineering Research, a SCIE-level academic journal in the field of environment.

It is an insect with a high lipid content and a short life cycle, such as larvae that feed on food waste, and is suitable for use as a raw material for biodiesel. Lipids discarded in the process of preparing insect feed are transesterified with methanol under a base catalyst (NaOH) and then converted to biodiesel that meets domestic quality standards through separation, purification and high quality.