Involvement of SME
Among the 9 consortium partners, 2 (VWP and Waldland) are SME. Further SME will be involved as suppliers of oil, and for the basic maintenance during the demonstration.
The SME Öl- und Bioenergie GmbH is presently already a license holder of VWP/Waldland for a process to produce a chemically very pure rape seed oil. In the project, the oil press of this company will be converted into a reference press for 2nd generation vegetable oil which will provide the fuel oil for tests and demonstrations. On exchange for this cooperation, Öl- and Bio-energie GmbH will get a general license on 2nd generation vegetable oil offered from VWP/Waldland.
In the second step, a French oil press owner (a local CUMA or other owner, in both cases most presumably a SME) will be involved and – provided a licence agreement can be fixed with the chosen oil press owner – RAEE and FRCUMA will be in charge of accompanying the conversion of that oil press.
Further, John Deere vendors with a mechanical workshop, i.e. independent SMEs, in Austria, France and Poland will be in charge of maintenance for the demonstration fleets. They will be accompanied by John Deere/ VWP during the project.
Generally speaking, the project as a whole has an important potential impact for SME, as it investigates methods for 2nd generation vegetable oil fuels which can be applied by small oil presses. It also offers new prospects for SME active in the vehicle repair and maintenance sector.
Last but not least, vegetable oil is a fuel which can be produced by small farms, leaving a large part of the value-creation to the farmer, instead of considering him only as a supplier of biomass
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