Polish petroleum firm inks deal to produce biofuel from hemp

A government-owned petroleum firm in Poland has struck a deal to produce bioethanol from hemp.

Grupa Lotos, one of the 10 largest fuel companies in Central Europe by sales, entered the agreement with the state-owned Institute of Natural Fibers and Medicinal Plants, Hemp Today reported. The Institute grows and researches natural fibers such as hemp and flax.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“We have the opportunity to produce second-generation fuels from Polish waste plants,” Malgorzata Zimniewska, the Institute’s deputy director of research, told Hemp Today.

“The development of bioethanol, higher-generation biofuels from cannabis biomass is in the interest of both the Institute and Poland,” she said.

Robert Sobkow, former Institute director, recently was appointed vice president for financial affairs at Grupa Lotos, which is based in Gdansk, Poland.