Neste, Itochu extend collaboration to make renewable diesel more widely available in Japan

Wataru Tsuda, Tatsuya Tanaka, Peter Zonneveld, Tsuyoshi Matsumoto, Norihito Saito, Ee Pin Lee, Katja Wodjereck, Kenji Tanaka and Sami Jauhiainen (Photo: Itochu Corp.)

Neste and Itochu have agreed to extend their collaboration with a licensing agreement allowing Itochu to become an official distributor of Neste MY Renewable Diesel™ in Japan.

Based on this agreement, the availability of Neste MY Renewable Diesel will be expanded in the market, for example, to the area around Osaka in order to supply the fuel to the construction site of the Osaka-Kansai Japan Expo taking place in 2025.

Japan has accelerated steps towards decarbonization in order to meet two ambitious climate goals: carbon neutrality by 2050 and a 46 percent reduction in greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions by 2030.

Neste and Itochu share a common vision of renewable fuels playing a key role in reducing GHG emissions in Japan.

The key focus in the current collaboration will, therefore, be not only on selling but also on promoting the use of more sustainable fuels, accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to renewable fuels, and increasing knowledge sharing on renewable diesel and the benefits it provides to its users.

“We are very excited to expand our Neste MY Renewable Diesel offering in Japan,” said Peter Zonneveld, an executive with Neste. “We firmly believe that all solutions are needed to reduce transportation-related emissions and support Japan’s target of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. We are committed to supporting our customers to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by at least 20 million tons annually by 2030.”

Neste and Itochu started collaborating in Japan in June 2021 to make renewable diesel available to selected customers there.

At the time, the companies agreed to build a strategic partnership to accelerate the use of renewable diesel as a low-emission solution for diesel engines in Japan.

“The relationship between Neste and Itochu first started as early as in 2010, when we collaborated on renewable diesel in California,” said Tatsuya Tanaka, Itochu’s general manager of the petroleum-trading department. “We are now very pleased to deepen the relationship by expanding the distribution of renewable diesel in Japan. Renewable diesel is getting a lot of attention as a solution for decarbonizing multiple industries such as heavy-duty transportation, off-road and railways in Japan. We are very happy to strengthen the partnership with Neste and thereby help the Japanese market to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions.”

By switching fossil diesel to Neste MY Renewable Diesel, GHG emissions can be reduced by as much as 75 percent to 95 percent when emissions over the fuel’s lifecycle are compared with fossil diesel.

Neste MY Renewable Diesel is produced from 100 percent renewable raw materials.

It is a drop-in fuel, not requiring any modifications to the existing diesel-powered vehicles or fuel distribution infrastructures.

The expansion of the partnership between Neste and Itochu also builds on the existing collaboration to increase the availability of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel™ (SAF) in the Japanese market.

Using Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel reduces GHG emissions by up to 80 percent over the fuel’s lifecycle compared to using fossil jet fuel.

As part of their collaboration, Neste and Itochu are currently supplying SAF at Haneda, Narita and Chubu International Airports, supporting Japanese airlines and the Japanese government with their emission-reduction targets.