SEOUL-- South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank Co. said Wednesday it will build a 130,000-ton biodiesel plant in the country's southwest next year as it pushes for white biotechnology business.

White biotechnology refers to using non-polluting renewable resources, like plants, molds and bacteria, to produce chemical materials and energy sources. It is considered more environmentally friendly than the existing bio business largely based on beans, corn and palm trees that can hurt forests and farms along the production process.

Hyundai Oilbank said it plans to change part of the Daesan plant to produce an annual 500,000 tons of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), a biofuel known as "renewable diesel," for its high level of reduction in greenhouse gas emission.

Daesan is a petrochemical complex in Seosan, some 120 kilometers southwest of Seoul.

The refiner said it will seek to tap into the global market with production of bio jet fuel by using the HVO.

Hyundai Oilbank will also seek to build a white bio production facility in other countries, like Indonesia, where it is easy to secure the supply of raw materials, and will further expand to bio chemicals, using the by-products of white bio materials, the company said.

It will work to establish a white bio ecosystem of an annual 1 million tons by 2030, according to Hyundai Oilbank.

Source: Yonhap News Agency