From the Newsroom*
São Paulo – Brazil and Germany may sign an accord in the biodiesel and fuel alcohol area. According to an announcement today (25) by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, representatives of the governments of both countries met in Nuremberg, Germany, this week, to discuss a pilot project for a partnership in the area.
According to the ministry, two cities will be chosen, one in Germany and another in Brazil, where official vehicles (police cars or fire engines) will be powered with ethanol and biodiesel, respectively mixed with petrol and diesel oil.
According to the executive secretary of the Foreign Trade Board (Camex), Mário Mugnaini Jr., Germany may represent a great market for Brazilian fuel alcohol and biodiesel producers. According to him, the German government recently approved the addition of 2% biodiesel to the diesel derived from petroleum, and this percentage may be increased to 5% in future.
With the enactment of the Kyoto Protocol, on February 16, Brazil expects to become a great world supplier of alternative fuels. Alcohol has been produced and widely used in the Brazilian fleet for around 30 years. Apart from alcohol-powered vehicles, the country also has a large number of "flex fuel" vehicles, which operate on petrol, alcohol, or any combination of both these fuels. Apart from that, the petrol used in the Brazilian fleet has up to 25% anhydrous alcohol in its composition.
The country is currently negotiating the supply of the product to Japan, which authorized the mixing of 3% anhydrous alcohol into the petrol sold in the country. The objective is to reduce the emission of polluting gasses so as to comply with the protocol.
In the area of biodiesel, Brazil has already been working on research for 50 years and this year the government authorized the mixing in of 2% of the product made from plant material, such as soy, caster seeds, palms and sunflower seed, to the diesel derived from petroleum. Various projects in this sector are currently being developed in the country.
Mugnaini added that the Germans are also interested in learning about projects being developed in the northeastern region of Brazil, where biodiesel is produced from castor beans. "They (the Germans) greatly value projects that have as their objective maintaining people in the countryside," stated the Camex director.
According to the Ministry of Development, the meeting of the Brazil-Germany Mixed Committee, which took place in Nuremberg, included the participation of over 30 representatives from the Brazilian private sector, apart from the presence of the ministers of Agriculture, Roberto Rodrigues, and Agrarian Development, Miguel Rossetto.
*Translated by Mark Ament
