The great game of sustainable mobility

After playing Walk the talk, we asked Stefano Ballista, CEO of Eni Sustainable Mobility, to explain his company's goals and projects .

What exactly is Eni Sustainable Mobility?

Stefano Ballista: "The new company Eni Sustainable Mobility represents a strategic lever in our energy transition path for the reduction of emissions.

Through this operation we integrate and enhance our industrial and commercial activities.

The new company will have an integrated approach along the entire value chain, from the availability of the raw material to the sale to the final customer.

Eni Sustainable Mobility will develop biorefining, biomethane and the sale of products, services and solutions for mobility, in Italy and abroad, in a path that will see it evolve towards a multi-service and multi-energy society”.

There is something new in the city: the Eni live Stations. What are they?

Stefano Ballista: “Eni Sustainable Mobility will be the protagonist of the mobility of the future also thanks to its assets, including the over 5,000 points of sale in Italy and Europe which are the main channel for meeting the needs of people in movement in a sustainable way.

Our Eni live Stations are already gradually transforming themselves into mobility hubs.

In two ways: on the one hand by offering new energy vectors such as biofuels, biomethane, electricity and hydrogen, on the other by making many services available in the points of sale that customers would otherwise have to look for in other areas of the city, thus allowing them to optimize time and travel".

What does it mean to make mobility more sustainable with a view to decarbonisation?

Stefano Ballista: “Decarbonizing mobility means using a holistic approach, based on the principle of technological neutrality, which combines all available solutions: biofuels, electricity, biomethane, hydrogen.

Among these energy vectors, biofuels play a fundamental role because they can make an immediate contribution to reducing emissions in the transport sector, even in its so-called 'hard to abate' areas such as heavy traction, aviation and navy, for which there are no other viable solutions in the short term.

The aviation fuel JET A1+Eni Biojet, which contains 20% of biogenic components and which has been marketed since the end of 2022, anticipated the direction indicated by the EU in April 2023 with ReFuelEU Aviation, the regulation that establishes targets for blending traditional fuels with more sustainable fuels in increasing quantities, which provides for a minimum 2% SAF by 2025 and an increase in the quota every five years up to 70% by 2050”.

Why are biofuels important for more sustainable mobility?

Stefano Ballista: “Based on a principle of technological neutrality we plan to use all the solutions available: biofuels, electricity, biomethane, hydrogen.

Among these energy carriers, biofuels play a fundamental role because they can make an immediate contribution to reducing emissions.

For biofuels, the reduction of emissions must be considered throughout the life cycle, therefore considering that the raw materials used are all of biogenic origin and mainly derived from waste and processing residues: it is a question of circular economy applied to the transition of mobility".

Are biofuels also useful in 'hard to abbot' sectors such as aviation?

Stefano Ballista: “JET A1+Eni Biojet aviation fuel, which contains 20% biogenic component and which has been marketed since the end of 2022, anticipated the direction indicated by the EU in April 2023 with ReFuelEU Aviation, the regulation which establishes targets for blending traditional fuels with more sustainable fuels in increasing quantities, which provides for the minimum 2% of SAF by 2025 and an increase in the quota every five years until reaching 70% by 2050”.

How is Eni organizing itself for the reconversion of the refineries?

Stefano Ballista: “Eni was the first in the world to have converted a refinery into a biorefinery in Venice in 2014. Gela was launched in 2019. Today the authorized processing capacity is over one million tons/year, which will become 3 million tons in 2025 and over 5 million tons in 2030.

Furthermore, Eni Sustainable Mobility has signed an agreement with PBF to enter a 50:50 joint venture, St. Bernard Renewables LLC, for a biorefinery now in start-up phase in Chalmette, in Louisiana (United States of America), and is studying the possible construction of two more new biorefineries: one within the Eni industrial site in Livorno, and one in Pengerang , in Malaysia.

Since November 2022, biorefineries have stopped processing palm oil and use waste and residues of vegetable or animal origin, such as waste oil used for frying and animal fats. In increasing quantities in the future, we will also use vegetable oils in our plants from crops grown on degraded land, unsuitable for food production and with little need for water, which Eni is developing in Africa".