“Companies bet on biofuels as a business of the future”. This is the title of a report that recently appeared in ‘Valor Econômico”, Brazil’s largest and most important financial newspaper, presenting the new technologies and processes that are driving the transition to a greener economy.
The article traces the history of biofuels in Brazil, starting with the production of ethanol in the 1970s, followed by second generation ethanol, and then the ‘National Biofuels Production and Use Program’, in 2004, before reaching the National Biofuels Policy (Renovabio), in 2017, and looking to the future in citing data from the McKinsey & Company consultancy which forecasts that exports of biokerosene could earn Brazil from US$20 billion to US$ 50 billion by 2035.
One important detail: Commercial aviation is responsible for around 3% of global emissions of carbon and the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is essential for achieving zero net CO2 emissions by 2050. S.Oleum – a company dedicated to the large scale production of sustainable, negative carbon feedstocks, for the transformation of the energy, chemicals and food industries through forest restoration – was founded in 2020 in response to this demand.
Biokerosene, or Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), can be produced by means of various different technologies, one of which is through Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA), whilst, according to McKinsey, the oil extracted from the soybean and macaúba represents 30% to 70%, respectively, of the production potential.
It is no accident that the macaúba (a palm tree native to Brazil) is one of S.Oleum’s flagship crops. Indeed, the company has a 2.600 hectare pilot plantation of macaúba plants in Minas Gerais state, which has already registered production of up to 5 tons of oil per hectare.
“We believe that bolstering the feedstock – the most complex item in the production chain – is the best strategy for us to be able to start future production of sustainable aviation fuel, once this chain has been developed and we have the proper regulatory and economic base in the country,” says Francisco de Blanco, co-founder and CEO of S.Oleum.
Read the full article: Empresas apostam em biocombustíveis como negócio do futuro | ESG | Valor Econômico (globo.com)
