OREANDA-NEWS. March 05, 2013. The survey conducted by TNS Emor revealed that half of those surveyed were aware of the possibility of producing motor fuel from oil shale. Knowing that its quality is equivalent, 70% of them would prefer motor fuel produced in Estonia to imported fuel.

The production of Estonian motor fuel is an indirect goal of the new Enefit280 oil plant completed last December. Shale oil, used for fuel in the shipping industry, boiler houses and power plants, has been produced in Estonia for nearly a century.

"We plan to reprocess the fuel oil produced on the basis of the Enefit280 technology at the future refinery, add value to it, and produce Euro5 diesel that is suitable for use as a motor fuel and meets EU requirements. Figuratively speaking, the current oil shale is raw material for a refinery, and the oil shale diesel that will be produced in the future is the output from the refinery," says Igor Kond, Chairman of the Management Board at Eesti Energia Oil and Gas. According to him, in the future it will be possible to refine 50% to 60% of the total oil shale output into Euro5 diesel, and this would cover the entire diesel fuel requirement in Estonia.

Of those surveyed by Emor, 42% had heard of Enefit's investments in the production of liquid fuels from oil shale. Of the aware respondents, 73% said that they support further development and expansion to manufacture liquid fuels from oil shale. "The more efficiently we are able to exploit the raw material, the greater the return on the investment. The efficiency of Enefit technology lies in the fact that 100% of the oil shale can be used up," Igor Kond says.

All of the energy in the organic matter is used up in its entirety in the Enefit280 process. Studies conducted by Eesti Energia confirm that from 1 tonne of oil shale we can refine 120 kilograms of high quality motor fuels, out of which 70 kilograms will be Euro5 complient diesel fuel.

Excess heat and gas produced by the extraction of oil from oil shale are used up in their entirety. Residual heat is used also to generate electricity at Enefit's oil shale plants. Ash, produced as a residue from the process, is used as a raw material in the production of cement and in construction.

Enefit technology consolidates experience in industrial oil production garnered over a 100-year history of oil shale processing in Estonia. Engineers at Eesti Energia Oil and Gas have been developing the process for over 30 years. Since 2009, EUR 206 million has been invested in the construction of the Enefit280 oil plant. At the moment, a preliminary design needed for the construction of a refinery is being prepared.

Enefit produces more than a million barrels of shale oil from oil shale annually. Oil shale mining and the generation and distribution of energy entail environmental impacts, and Enefit is working actively with science and research agencies to reduce them. It is maintaining and rehabilitating mining areas, has reduced the use of water in the process of producing liquid fuels, etc.

One thousand one hundred randomly chosen people, between the ages of 15 and 74, participated in the survey conducted by Emor.