Jan 04, 2010
Brazil Presses Ahead With Biodiesel Program
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
As of January 1, 2010, all the diesel fuel sold in Brazil is now a B5 mixture, a mixture of five percent vegetable oil with petroleum diesel. The B5 mixture is coming three years earlier than what had been mandated by the National Program for the Production and Use of Biodiesel. With this new mixture, the Minister of Agriculture estimates that Brazil will consume 2.4 billion liters of biodiesel in 2010.
The producers of biodiesel continue to press ahead by urging the government to continue increasing the percent of vegetable oils used in biodiesel. Members of the Brazilian Biodiesel Union (Ubrabio) are confident that Brazil could increase the use of biodiesel by 1% every year. They are pushing for a nationwide B10 mandate by 2015 and a B20 mandate for large urban areas also by 2015. They feel the proven benefits of biodiesel for pollution control would offer significant health benefits for the urban populations of Brazil. Research in Brazil has also shown that biodiesel increases the lubricant qualities of the fuel. Adding 2% vegetable oil to the diesel mixture is enough to increase the lubrication capacity of the fuel by 50%.
Currently, there are 65 biodiesel plants operating in Brazil, 13 of those plants are in the process of having their expansion plans approved, and 19 new plants are either being constructed or in the planning stage. Eighty percent of the vegetable oil feedstock for these biodiesel operations is soybean oil, but the government is trying to diversify the sources of vegetable oil. Soybean oil is the primary oil because the infrastructure is in place for the production and distribution of soybean oil. Even though the government is trying to diversify the source of vegetable oil, soybean oil will continue to be the primary feedstock for biodiesel production in Brazil for the foreseeable future.
The number two oil now used is tallow and number three oil is cottonseed oil. They also use small amounts of castor bean oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, palm oil, and pine nut oil.
The government has incentive programs in place for small farmers in northeastern Brazil to start growing other type of oilseed crops, but probably the biggest potential is for the increased production of palm oil. Brazil's tropical climate and the proven technology for the use of palm oil production in other parts of the world makes it a viable alternative to soybean oil. The total palm oil produced in Brazil is still quite small, but it is expected to grow rapidly in the future.