Many companies are now entering the biofuel business as the government considers what steps to take in order to encourage its production. As the pieces are being laid on the chessboard the main players would appear to be the chemical works at Tarnów, Kędzierzyn and Pulawy as well as Organika Sarzyna, the Czechowice refinery and Siarkopol Grzybów. This could well be for them an unbeatable chance to improve profitability, diversify production and perhaps even gain raw materials for chemicals production.
Of course everything will depend on what the law says once it is written. Biofuels are produced by rape, the attractive yellow plant that seems to fill an increasing amount of the countryside. Analysts warn that in order for biofuels to have any effect at all on the economy, around 3m tons of rape will need to be produced every year. However this would lead to around 2.8m tons of rape by product being produced and currently only 1.5m tons can be processed into animal feed if additional ingredients are also available.
Lime producer Siarkopol Grzybów believes that if it could get its hands on PLN300m and the right licences it could produce these ingredients. It is now seeking a backer in Europe, the USA and Japan as well as government support. The Kędzierzyn chemical works is hoping to produce up to 100,000 tons of fuel. It hopes that PKN Orlen will distribute the fuel for it. The Tarnów chemical works are also seeking a backer to help it produce up to 300,000 tons of biofuels.