Biofuels International: Keeping It Local
This article was originally published in Biofuels International.
Founded in 2009, Neutral Fuels, part of The Neutral Group, converts used cooking oil into biodiesel, a sustainable replacement for fossil fuel-based diesel. Taking the customer as a starting point, the company has constructed clean, efficient working systems to offer higher quality, higher yielding biodiesel, produced at a profit and without subsidies.
Here, Biofuels International speaks with founder, Founder, CEO and Chairman Karl Feilder, about the importance of using local sources for biodiesel production, and how smart technologies can help to create highly efficient systems.
Could you introduce yourself to our readers?
People call me a serial entrepreneur, a techie nerd, and an environmentalist. I’m happy to own up to the first two but I’m not an environmentalist – I’m just trying to save the planet. I’m also known as a Harley Davidson fan and a rock singer: my band, Sandstörm, is well known in Dubai.
I’m a British national who brought my family to Dubai in 2009. This is where I established the first licenced biorefinery in the Middle East, Neutral Fuels. In the last decade, my business actions have prevented over 10.5 million tonnes of CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere by our customers. We use European processing technology to convert waste vegetable oils into EN14214 compliant biodiesel to power the transportation fleets of several corporations.
I’m the first Adjunct Lecturer at the Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi, and have worked as a Catalyst at Hult International Business School in both Dubai and San Francisco. I have a B.Eng. (Hons.) in Industrial Engineering and an executive MBA.
Before Neutral Fuels I built five companies to exit via trade sale, and have taken two more to their Initial Public Offering (IPO) on London’s stock market. Now I’m driven to inspire the business leaders and entrepreneurs of tomorrow to develop scalable green technologies to save the planet.
The closed loop model seems to be a key selling point for Neutral Fuels. How does it differ from other systems in the industry?
It’s all about local/local/local. I’m not sure many other biodiesel producers have understood that the only sustainable - and moral - way to make biofuel is to make it from waste. Feedstock from a farmer’s field almost certainly deprives people of food. On the other hand, any feedstock or biofuel that has been shipped in from somewhere else contributes to climate change. We make our biodiesel in our local refinery from local waste for use by local customers.
That’s just one of our differentiators. Another is that in the decade since we started making biofuel in the fossil fuel capital of the world, we’ve done it without subsidies, carbon credits, or tax incentives. We are probably the cleanest, greenest business you’ve ever met!
Have there been any challenges with the model? If so, how did you overcome them?
On the contrary, our only problem is having the capacity to produce enough biofuel to meet demand. We’re shortly to commission more production lines.
Last year, McDonalds announced that it had hit the 10 million kilometre milestone using your biodiesel. Have any other brands chosen to collaborate with Neutral Fuels?
Yes, many other brands, among them DHL, Del Monte, and Anglo American. And corporate interest in biofuel is growing all the time which is very rewarding because, according to the Carbon Majors Report, just 100 companies have been the source of 71% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988. By working with businesses we can have the maximum effect on reducing CO2 in the environment. Governments are also increasing pressure on companies to adopt lower carbon fuels, and biofuel is simply the quickest and easiest way to reduce your carbon footprint.
What are your thoughts on Dubai’s Clean Energy Strategy? How has it benefitted the company?
Dubai is continually proving to the world that it is led by visionaries. The Dubai Clean Energy Strategy aims to produce 75% of Dubai’s energy requirements from clean sources by 2050. With 20% of the UAE’s carbon footprint coming from transportation, we love the fact that we’re actively contributing to a sustainable future. It’s not yet clear whether the strategy is benefiting us but I have no doubt it will because we really have paid our dues in becoming such a viable alternative.
You’ve chosen a cloud-based portal system to manage your model. What benefits can a biodiesel model obtain from such a system?
We always knew we would develop technology to make our fuel delivery really smart. We use IoT sensors to track our feedstock, and an iPhone APP to track our customers’ fuel supplies. We also install IoT sensors in all the tanks we supply to customers so that we can monitor fuel consumption in real time, prevent wastage and theft, and deliver the next batch of fuel before their supply runs out.
An obsessive focus on technology creates a system that is highly efficient for everyone. It also puts the provenance of our biofuel beyond doubt. Our cloud-based data portal tracks and traces every drop of waste oil, forming a complete audit trail. This quantity and chemical quality data is then used to optimize our customer’s operations and helps them save on costs. At the end of each month our customers get an analysis of their fuel consumption per vehicle, driver, etc. They love it.
Does Neutral Fuels have any plans for future development?
Oh yes! Neutral Fuels achieved profitability in 2012 and since then monthly sales volumes have grown more than 10-fold (a 1000% increase). We are preparing for IPO in 2023. We plan to franchise this year. There are 50 cities close enough to Dubai to justify a small scale refinery to produce EN compliant fuel from waste.
About Karl Feilder: Founder, CEO and Chairman of The Neutral Group and Neutral Fuels, Karl Feilder is a serial tech entrepreneur, sustainability advocate and international speaker. His direct actions to mitigate climate change have resulted in over 11 million tonnes of CO2e savings from global corporations. More recently, Karl has created and is implementing a highly innovative strategy to turn human waste into reusable energy. Karl has previously built five companies to exit via trade sale, and taken two more to their Initial Public Offering (IPO). A British national, Karl is now preparing its Neutral Fuels LLC subsidiary, a company that produces bio-fuel from used cooking oil, for an IPO on the London AIM stock market in 2023. Karl is the host of Middle East podcast and video series, Not Another Empty Suit.
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