May 20, 2010
Crambe Could Become a New Oil Crop in Brazil
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Brazilian scientists are always looking for alternatives to soybean oil as a feedstock for biodiesel production. They think they have found an old plant that might fit well into Brazil's agricultural production cycle and serve as an oil crop for biodiesel production. The plant is called crambe. It is native to the Mediterranean area and was a popular plant in Europe during the Victorian era. It can be grown as a leaf vegetable, as a ground cover, or as an oil crop. The seeds of the oil varieties have a very high oil content, 35% by weight compared to 19% in soybeans, and the oil has qualities very similar to rape seed oil. The non edible oil could be ideal for biodiesel production. Crambe is also being investigated in North Dakota as a potential source of vegetable oil for biodiesel.
In Brazil, crambe is being promoted as a crop to grow after the main summer grain crops are harvested. Approximately 80% of Brazil's grain acreage is not followed by another crop during the dry season. The advantage of crambe is that it has a high tolerance to drought and can complete its life cycle in 90 to 100 days. It could be an ideal crop for small family farmers to plant after their grain harvest.
Approximately 75 hectares of crambe are currently being grown on 15 small family farms in the state of Sao Paulo. Once harvested, the seeds will be crushed in a biodiesel plant in Orlandia, which has been given financial incentives by the Brazilian government to purchase at least 30% of its feedstock (soybeans not included) from small family farmers in the region.
The current diesel fuel mixture in Brazil is B5 (95% petroleum diesel and 5% vegetable oil) and that is expected to increase to a B10 mixture within the next three years. Currently, soybeans account for approximately 80% of the vegetable oil used to make biodiesel, but the government is promoting alternatives to soybeans such as palm oil, cotton seed oil, peanut oil, nut oil, castor bean oil, and now crambe.
Crambe production in Brazil is in its infancy, but if the scientists are correct, it could fit very nicely into Brazil's agricultural production and blunt some of the critics that complain about using a food crop to produce energy.