South Africa: launch of renewable diesel pilot project

On February 4, 2025, the South African petrochemical company Sasol, mining group Anglo American and diamond company De Beers announced a joint development agreement (JDA) to start trials regarding the production of renewable diesel (also referred to as hydrotreated vegetable oil, HVO) using vegetable oil. The vegetable oils will come from moringa, and also Solaris, a variety of tobacco.

The objective of the JDA is to assess the technical and commercial viability of renewable diesel production starting with these feedstocks. Sasol is expected to process them at its existing refinery, Natref, to produce the biobased diesel. If successful, up to 400 million liters per year can be produced for use