In the south of Roraima, land costs up to seven times less than in other large centers of agricultural production in the country. Even so, when flying over it, it is possible to see areas opened decades ago that have been abandoned due to lack of resources. They are holes in the middle of the Amazon biome.
Brasil BioFuels (BBF) will use this degraded land to grow palm and produce oil - which will later be transformed into 500,000 cubic meters of green diesel (HVO) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at the biorefinery being built in the Manaus Free Trade Zone, with planned investments of R$2 billion.
Vibra Energia, formerly BR Distribuidora, will have exclusive access to this production for five years, and may renew the agreement for another five years. Leader in the Brazilian fuel market in general, the company intends to begin distributing these biofuels between 2025 and 2026.
In a one hour and twenty minute flight between Manaus (AM) and São Luís (RR), for example, the single engine burns 320 liters of aviation kerosene (aviation fuel) and releases carbon into the air. Aviation accounts for 2% of global CO2 emissions - 915 million tons out of 43 billion. The share is small compared to other activities, but in the race to curb climate change the sector will also have to reduce its environmental footprint.
It was with an eye on this demand that BBF raised from R$1.8 billion to R$2 billion its investment for the production of biofuels. In addition to HVO production, announced by the company in November, the extra resource will guarantee technology to produce SAF, which emits up to 90% less pollutants than aviation kerosene.
Verticalized production
Brasil BioFuels chose to verticalize palm production in São João da Baliza, a municipality near São Luís, unlike the strategy it adopted in Pará, where it has planted around 70,000 hectares and has partnerships with family farmers. In the south of Roraima, the company will plant 20,000 hectares this year and aims to reach 120,000 by 2026. With this, it expects to capture 600,000 tons of CO2 per year.
BBF grows the seeds in small pots, called pre-beds. They count on a strict control of humidity and other needs for a good development. Even so, about 15% do not present the desired vigor and are discarded. Since the plants stay in the ground for decades, it is not worth taking up space with weak seedlings.
In the nursery, BBF uses irrigation, but subjects the plants to a thermal and wind reality closer to what they will find in the field. Then the palms are transferred to the final planting area. It takes about four years from planting to harvesting.
Palm's advantages
The choice for oil palm is mainly due to the higher oil production. It is estimated that it yields seven times more than soy, for example. "It is a paradigm break in relation to biofuels in the Center-South. The sugarcane cycle lasts seven months, while the palm yields the whole year", says the president of BBF, Milton Steagall.
The agricultural zoning of oil palm allows cultivation in deforested areas only until the end of 2007. This means that there are 31 million potential hectares, much more than the BBF plan, which may generate competition in the future.
The palm oil will be transported in trucks powered by biofuels to the Manaus Free Trade Zone, where the industry has exemptions. The logistics were designed to reduce CO2 emissions throughout the chain and maintain competitiveness. "And the biggest diesel consumers are concentrated in the Amazon region", says Dionisios Vossos, head of Business Development at BBF. There, the volume should be divided equally between the production of HVO and SAF, at least at first.
Since part of the open area in the Amazon biome dates from 2008 onwards, BBF is studying a way to not leave holes. For this, the plan is to grow cocoa and sell it to chocolate industries.
The demand for these biofuels is still being defined. But the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (Corsia) already foresees voluntary CO2 reductions starting in 2025 and mandatory after 2027. During BBF and Vibra's presentation, executives from Azul, Gol and Latam showed interest and asked some questions.
"It's not just a question of wanting to be sustainable. In a little while, you're going to have a mandate of that. We are going to be forced to do it. If this work doesn't start now, things are going to get complicated later on," commented one of these executives, who preferred not to be identified.
According to Marcelo Bragança, Executive Vice President of Operations at Vibra, sustainable aviation fuel is already a reality in Europe and California (USA). French Airbus has conducted some flights in the last year. "Increasing the use of SAF remains a key path to achieving the industry's ambition of net zero carbon emissions by 2050," the company said in a recent statement.
Meanwhile, HVO is advancing at a faster pace than ethanol and biodiesel, according to Bragança. "It's more stable, easier to use. Technically, it can be used in any proportion. Biodiesel, on the other hand, presents some problems after a certain level of mixture," he says.
Mandate for green diesel
The government should soon send to Congress a suggested mandate for green diesel. The proposal will be based on results in decarbonization, instead of a percentage of mixture, as happens with biodiesel. The idea is that emission reductions vary from 1% to 10%. The text is at the Civil House and may suffer changes before going to the Legislative.
The president of Vibra, Wilson Ferreira Junior, is confident that the Brazilian market for these products will grow significantly in the coming years. Questioned about the carbon credit market, he said only that these are gains for the future, and that the focus now is to obtain cheap biofuels.
If everything goes wrong, Vibra says it will be possible to export the surplus, but the risk is low. The volume of HVO and SAF supplied by BBF will represent only 2% of Vibra's demand. If the production announced by the company were to stay in the North region to replace diesel and aviation kerosene, it would only meet 25% of demand - the global market for aviation fuel reaches 360 billion cubic meters of kerosene per year.
Milton Steagall says that there is capacity to double production, to 1 billion cubic meters, in a year and a half, if Vibra wants. However, BBF will only expand production when new deals are closed. Sales contracts help to obtain credit - no wonder representatives of the National Development Bank (BNDES) were invited to see the plans for the enterprise.
Founded in 2008, BBF operates in five states in the North region, where it employs more than 6,000 people. The company has 18 thermoelectric plants in operation and 18 under implementation, three palm oil crushing industries and a biodiesel industry.
Vibra, meanwhile, is a licensee of the Petrobras brand and has 8,300 service stations in all regions of the country. The company also has more than 18,000 customers in various segments, such as transportation, trade, chemicals, and agribusiness. The BR Aviation brand holds 70% of the aviation market.
* The journalist traveled at the invitation of BBF and Vibra
See the full story here
