UK, German partners demo macaúba biofuel supply chain in Brazil

Photo: Universidade Federal de Viçosa

August 6, 2020

BY Ron Kotrba

U.K.-based biodiesel technology and equipment supplier Green Fuels and Germany-based innovative oil and carbon solutions provider INOCAS GmbH are working together to develop a sustainable fuels value chain in Minas Gerais, Brazil. 

As signatories of the Zona da Mata Biokerosene and Renewables Platform—an integrated biofuels and reforestation value chain promoted by the city of Juiz de Fora—the companies are using macaúba, a native palm tree to Brazil, the Caribbean and southern Florida, in novel intercropping and agrosilvopastoral techniques to ensure future sustainable fuel production for distributed energy and land, marine and air transport sectors.  

Advertisement

With the support of the U.K. government’s Prosperity Fund, Green Fuels is establishing a biofuel production plant in the Zona da Mata.

Under the new agreement, INOCAS will be provided saplings of macaúba and other native species to establish technical demonstration units in the Zona da Mata and Cerrado (savanna) biomes. The saplings will be acquired from the Viveiro Nativo nursery. Green Fuels and INOCAS expect the program to directly benefit approximately 100 small family farmers and the entire rural value chain. 

Advertisement

According to INOCAS CEO Johannes Zimple, macaúba averages four times more oil per hectare compared to other oilseeds. He added that macaúba also generates more jobs and can be produced in concert with other crops or in silvopastoral regimes, and that the crop adapts “to any producer,” from family farms to large agribusinesses, “reducing the effects of rural exodus,” Zimple said. “[It] can be produced in a great diversity of soil and climate [and] it has the capacity of generating more sustainable income.”

Green Fuels stated that this will be achieved “through practical measurement of parameters such as [United Nations Sustainable Development Group] compliance, biodiversity, effect of land use change and productivity to promote recovery of degraded pasture through sustainable land use, combined with environmentally sensitive reforestation, supporting the replenishment of the region’s aquifers and river basins.”

Manuel Luis M. Thompson-Flôres, CEO of Green Fuels Ventures América Latina, said, “Green Fuels will use these technical demonstration units to inform Brazilian and international stakeholders as to the macaúba production model’s sustainability, and to differentiate it from unsustainable oil crops.”

Related Stories

Broco Energy on July 17 announced a new partnership with the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) to deliver and transition Massport's fuel tanks to renewable diesel across its various facilities.

Read More

Shell Aviation, Accenture, and Amex GBT on July 10 announced Avelia is in the process of evolving to an industry solution with independent data hosting and a multi-supplier model helping users access the GHG benefits of SAF.

Read More

The U.S EPA on July 17 released data showing more than 1.9 billion RINs were generated under the RFS during June, down 11% when compared to the same month of last year. Total RIN generation for the first half of 2025 reached 11.17 billion.

Read More

The U.S. EPA on July 17 published updated small refinery exemption (SRE) data, reporting that six new SRE petitions have been filed under the RFS during the past month. A total of 195 SRE petitions are now pending.

Read More

European biodiesel producer Greenergy on July 10 confirmed plans to shut down its biodiesel plant in Immingham, Lincolnshire, U.K. The company temporarily suspended operations at the facility earlier this year.

Read More

Upcoming Events

Sign up for our e-newsletter!

Advertisement

Advertisement