Shell to build Dutch biofuels plant in net-zero push

(Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell plans to build a biofuels facility in the Netherlands to help achieve its target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, it said on Thursday.

The facility in Rotterdam will be able to produce 820,000 tonnes of renewable fuel per year when it starts production in 2024 and is expected to be one of Europe's largest such facilities, the energy giant said.

The plan follows Shell's pledge in February to eliminate net carbon emissions by 2050, raising its ambition from previous targets in the face of growing investor pressure to battle climate change.

Sustainable aviation fuel could make up more than half of the Rotterdam plant's capacity, with the rest for renewable diesel, depending on customer demand.

The facility will produce the fuels from waste in the form of used cooking oil, animal fat and other residual products.

Sustainable vegetable oils like rapeseed will supplement the waste feedstocks at the plant, which will not use virgin palm oil.

(Reporting by Siddarth S in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)