Brazilian mining company to produce palm biodiesel
June 9, 2009
BY Susanne Retka Schill
Posted June 25, 2009
Brazilian mining company Vale S.A. is planning to supply its rail and mining operations with biodiesel. On June 24, the company announced founding a consortium with Biopalma da Amazonia S.A. to produce biodiesel beginning in 2014 from dende palm oil.
In the announcement, Vale said the consortium will be the biggest producer of palm oil in the Americas, with an investment of $500 million in the project, $305 million provided by Vale. With a production goal of 500,000 tons of palm oil per year, Vale will use its portion to feed its planned biodiesel plant which will have an estimated capacity of 160,000 tons (48 million gallons) of biodiesel per year.
Vale said the project will cut Vale's carbon dioxide emissions, plus generate around 6,000 direct jobs and benefit 2,000 families of small rural producers. The project covers 130,000 hectares (320,000 acres) in north-central Brazil. Of the total area, 60,000 hectares will be used for dende palm tree plantations and the remaining will be allotted for native habitat to be restored and protected by the consortium. About 800,000 trees were planted in 2009 on 5,000 hectares, and another 2.3 million saplings are to be planted in 2010. By 2014, Vale expects to begin biodiesel production and become self-sufficient in production of the fuel for B20 blends well in advance of the Brazilian mandate for B20 by 2020.
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