Nippon Oil to spend ¥20 billion on greener biofuel

Nippon Oil Corp. plans to invest about ¥20 billion (US$220.53 million) by Fiscal 2015 to commercially produce a new biofuel that generates less carbon dioxide during production than conventional biofuels, according to The Nikkei. The JX Holdings Inc. unit plans to make use of technologies currently being developed by a research association that it formed with five other companies in February last year, including Toyota Motor Corp., Toray Industries Inc. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. The firm will establish a business unit with a new factory in Southeast Asia to initially produce 10,000 liters per year. It hopes to sell the biofuel in Japan at a price close to that of gasoline by holding production costs to ¥40 (US$0.44) per liter. (May 24, 2010)