The Mineraloelraffinerie Oberrhein (MiRO) in Karlsruhe is Germany’s largest refinery and one of Europe’s most modern, powerful, and efficient refineries.
For the shareholders Philipps 66, Esso, Rosneft, and Shell, the 1,100 employees refine the raw material crude oil into high-quality mineral oil products such as petrol, diesel, heating oil, propylene, and bitumen. In this way, MiRO keeps the roads moving and homes warm and supplies important input materials for the chemical industry and road construction. Around 14 million tons of crude oil are processed every year.

The demand for products for road traffic will decline in the coming years, but mineral oil products will still be needed in the future, for example in road construction or as a raw material for the chemical industry. MiRO aims to manufacture the required products as efficiently and environmentally friendly as possible. As an energy supplier for the southwest region and far beyond, MiRO plays an important role in ensuring the security of energy supplies. This responsibility goes far beyond the supply of mineral oil products; for example, over 60% of the district heating requirements of the city of Karlsruhe are covered by waste heat from the production facilities.

MiRO wants to continue to reliably supply the southwest region with economical and sustainable energy for mobility and heating in the future. Previous projects have already investigated how, for example, fuels can be produced from renewable raw materials without fossil crude oil. MiRO now hopes that the Ref4Fu project will provide insights into how these production methods can be integrated into the refinery’s existing infrastructure in the best possible and most efficient way, thereby shaping a transformation toward a sustainable future.