Mar 22, 2010
Brazilian Government Promoting Alternative Vegetable Oils For Biodiesel Production
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The demand for biodiesel in Brazil has risen 400% in the last three years, increasing from 400 million liters in 2007 to 1.6 billion liters in 2009. For 2010, it is estimated that 2.4 billion liters of biodiesel will be used in Brazil.
The national program to mandate the use of biodiesel in Brazil was launched in 2004. By early 2008, the diesel supply in Brazil was B2 or 2% vegetable oil mixed with petroleum diesel. Between mid-2008 and mid-2009, the mixture was increased to B3. Starting in July of 2009, it went to B4. In January of 2010 the percentage was B5. The biodiesel producers in Brazil are confident that moving forward, the blend could increase 1% per year and they are promoting a nationwide blend of B10 by 2015 with a B20 blend used in large urban areas.
Approximately 80% of the vegetable oil used in Brazil's biodiesel blend is soybean oil and the current blend requires the use of about two million liters of soybean oil. If the blend percentage increased as much as the biodiesel producers propose, then there is a risk of not having enough soybean oil to meet the demand for both biodiesel production and human consumption of soybean oil. As a result, the government is heavily promoting the increased production of alternative vegetable oils.
The principal alternative vegetable oils would be oils derived from such crops as: cotton, peanuts, canola, palm, sunflower, and castor beans. They have instituted programs promoting the production of these crops especially for small farmers and farmers in Northeastern Brazil.
The Brazilian agricultural research service, Embrapa, is also conducting research on other type of plantation crops that could also be used for vegetable oil production.