Spanish farmers and Cepsa join forces to boost biofuels
The energy company and the Spanish association of cooperatives will promote the production of biofuels from agricultural and livestock waste.
Cepsa and Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de España, an organization representing more than 3,600 agricultural cooperatives and over 1 million members, farmers and ranchers, will collaborate to promote the production of second-generation biofuels using waste from Spain's agricultural and livestock sectors.
Cepsa will analyze whether the residual biomass generated by different industries, such as the olive, olive oil, wine and livestock industries, can be transformed into raw material to produce second-generation biofuels in its industrial centers. Meanwhile, Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de España will coordinate the contact between the company and the different cooperatives within the association.
Second-generation biofuels, whose raw material does not compete with food, contribute to the circular economy because they are produced from waste that would otherwise end up in landfills.
"At Cepsa, we are convinced that moving forward with the energy transition requires collaboration and establishing synergies along the entire value chain. That is why we have reached this agreement with Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de España, which represents more than 1 million farmers and ranchers across the country, with the aim of identifying new sources of circular raw materials for the production of second-generation biofuels, while forming new partnerships that generate revenue and economic development in rural areas,” said Javier Antúnez, Cepsa’s Biofuels Manager.
Agri-food cooperatives directly employ 123,000 people in Spain, most of them in rural areas, which makes them an important economic and social driving force in the least populated parts of our country, known as "empty Spain."
