For the CEO of Grupo BBF, Brazil has "green pre-salt" for energy generation and biofuels

Milton Steagall explained that the use of oil palm biomass has the same energy generation potential as the country's "pre-salt".

São Paulo, June 30, 2023 - The energy transition and new sources of clean and renewable energy were the subject of the first panel this Friday (30) at the 22nd LIDE Business Forum, held in Rio de Janeiro. During the event, the CEO of Grupo BBF (Brasil BioFuels), Milton Steagall, argued that Brazil has a "green pre-salt", with the possibility of producing biofuels from the biomass generated by oil palm, grown in the Amazon region.

Stegall explained that each hectare planted with oil palm, also known as dendê, has 143 trees. Each leaf on these trees weighs 6 kg and can be used to produce biomass to generate biofuel, which is used to generate clean, renewable electricity in isolated areas of the Amazon region. As of 2026, second generation biofuels will be produced, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO).

Currently, 31 million hectares can be cultivated with palm oil in Brazil, according to one of the strictest laws in the world. Grupo BBF cultivates the plant on 75,000 hectares in the states of Pará and Roraima.

"Brazil has built a very robust legal framework to develop oil palm cultivation, which resulted in the Agro-Environmental Zoning of Oil Palm in 2010. This legislation allows oil palm to be cultivated only in degraded areas of the Amazon until December 2007, which means 31 million hectares. If this area were really cultivated with oil palm, we would have a second 'pre-salt' in Brazil," he said.

For Steagall, this would be one of the best solutions for generating energy for isolated areas of the Amazon region, which today has 212 locations outside the national energy system and which are served by thermoelectric plants powered mainly by fossil fuels.

"The Amazon rainforest has trees 60m high and is a region that is cloudy for much of the year," he said, explaining that these characteristics need to be considered for an energy transition plan for the region.

Grupo BBF currently has 38 thermal power plants, with a total generating capacity of 238 MW. Currently, 25 plants are in operation with the capacity to generate 86.8 MW, serving 140,000 people. As a result, Grupo BBF removes more than 106.4 million liters of fossil diesel from the Amazon each year and reduces the emission of around 250,000 tons of carbon equivalent into the atmosphere.

Brazil's case is unique

Participating in the panel, David Zylbersztajn, a professor at PUC in Rio de Janeiro, recalled the importance of the energy transition, especially given the global climate emergency. David Zylbersztajn pointed out, however, that Brazil has a different reality from other countries around the world, since only 25% of the country's CO2 emissions come from the industrial and electricity sectors. In the world, 75% of emissions come from these sectors.

The country also has a unique case in the world, which is biofuels, according to the professor, who was director general of the National Petroleum Agency between 1998 and 2001.

The panel "The recovery in infrastructure and energy alternatives" also included the participation of Júlio Lopes, federal deputy; Welberth Rezende, mayor of Macaé (RJ); Flavio Rodrigues, vice-president of Shell; and Nicola Cotugno, president of Enel Brasil. The debate was moderated by Carlos José Marques, journalist and president of LIDE Conteúdo, and Roberto Ginnetti da Fonseca, economist and LIDE board member.

About Grupo BBF

Grupo BBF (Brasil BioFuels), a Brazilian company founded in 2008, is the largest palm oil producer in Latin America, with a cultivated area of over 75,000 hectares and a production capacity of around 200,000 tons of oil per year. The company is a pioneer in creating sustainable solutions for generating renewable energy in isolated systems, with thermoelectric plants powered by biofuels produced in the region. Its agricultural activity recovers areas that were degraded until 2007 in the Amazon, following the Agroecological Zoning of Oil Palm (ZAE), approved by Decree 7.172 of the Federal Government, of May 7, 2010.

Grupo BBF has created an integrated business model in which it operates from the beginning to the end of the value chain - from sustainable oil palm cultivation, crude oil extraction, biofuel production, biotechnology and renewable energy generation - with assets totaling around R$2.2 billion and activities generating more than 6,000 direct jobs in the northern region of Brazil. Grupo BBF 's operations are located in the states of Acre, Amazonas, Rondônia, Roraima and Pará, comprising 38 thermoelectric plants (25 in operation and 13 under implementation), 3 palm oil crushing units, a soybean extruder and a biodiesel industry.

The company is expanding its supply of biofuels and has signed partnerships for the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), also called green diesel. The new sustainable fuels will be produced as of 2026 in the country's first Biorefinery, currently under construction in the Manaus Free Trade Zone.

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imprensa@grupobbf.com.br

GBR Comunicação
Fernanda Domiciano / Vagner Magalhães