Alexandre Rocha, special envoy*
Araucária (Brazil) – Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated yesterday (20) that H-Bio, a new fuel developed by Brazilian oil giant Petrobras, may bring benefits not only to Brazil, but also to other developing countries. "It is a program that may help in the survival of the countries of the third world, of the countries in Africa and of some in Latin America," he said, in a quick press conference.
Lula participated in a ceremony marking the second industrial test for production of H-Bio, which took place at President Getúlio Vargas Refinery (Repar), in the city of Araucária, on the outskirts of Curitiba, capital of the southern Brazilian state of Paraná. "This is a program that has not only been thought up for Brazil, but also for the development of poorer countries and I feel that it is a revolution," added Lula. To him, there will be ample demand for green fuel, and agricultural countries will be able to produce, with Brazil as the main player in the sector.
"If the developed world wants to reach the targets stipulated in the Kyoto Protocol, they will have to use either biodiesel, H-Bio, or ethanol," he said, referring to the international agreement that forecasts the emission of pollutants on a global scale. "And in this area, Brazil is very competitive," he added. President Lula pointed out that he would like to see partnerships with foreign companies, mainly in developing nations.
In the evaluation of the Brazilian president, the country may "loan" the knowledge it has in green fuels to poorer nations. "Imagine a country in Africa planting oleaginous plants and selling H-Bio to countries in Europe," he proposed. "This would mean redemption to the poor country and would mean a cleaner planet for the rich countries," he added.
To the Chief of Staff, Dilma Roussef, who was also at the event, promotion of the use of H-Bio by the world may even bring royalties to Petrobras, as the company has already registered the patent for the product.
Refining
H-Bio is a diesel obtained through the mixing of vegetable oil with petroleum during refining, through a process called hydrogenation, which involves the addition of hydrogen. With this, it is possible to obtained a fuel very similar to common diesel, but with lower levels of sulphur and greater quality on burning, making it less polluting. The product also becomes cheaper, as part of the petroleum is replaced with vegetable oil. "It has the same DNA as common diesel, but with greater quality," stated the Petrobras supply area director, Paulo Roberto Costa.
It is different from biodiesel. The latter is 100% vegetable and is added to diesel at the distributors. In Brazil, starting in 2008, the law is going to oblige the mixing in of 2% biodiesel in common diesel, and 5% starting in 2013.
Although H-Bio may be produced from various oleaginous plants, soy oil is what will be used by Petrobras, at least in the first phase of industrialization. The company is going to start producing the fuel in industrial scale in December this year.
This is going to generate an increase in the domestic demand for soy, which pleases agribusiness businessmen. One of the authorities that participated in the ceremony at Repar was the governor of the state of Mato Grosso, Blairo Maggi, known as the "King of Soy". In the short term, Petrobras forecasts the use of 256,000 cubic metres of vegetable oil, which represents almost 10% of what the country exports. In the medium term, the quantity used should rise to 425,000 cubic metres, or 16.4% of soy exports.
To president Lula, the increase in domestic demand is going to reduce farmer dependence on the foreign market and reduce susceptibility to oscillation on the commodity market. The president at Petrobras, José Sérgio Gabrielli, guaranteed, in turn, that there are no great problems in returning to production of pure diesel, in case the price of soy rises strongly. "It is a process that may be interrupted," he said.
In the case of small farmers, Lula stated that there will be exemption of some taxes for the companies to be able to buy from them. "This program has a social stamp," he said. "It covers both business and family agriculture," he added.
Honour
Enthusiastic, Lula saved no praise to engineer Jefferson Gomes, who headed the team at the Petrobras Development and Research Centre, who was responsible for the innovation. "What you did was cause an incomparable revolution to the fuel sector in the 21st century," he said. "You have not gone to the moon, you have not gone to space, but you managed to make the president fly a little due to his glee with this project," stated Lula to the engineer.
Lula arrived at Repar dressed like a Petrobras employee. He was accompanied by two ministers, the minister of Planning, Paulo Bernardo, the minister of Agrarian Development, Guilherme Cassel, and by the governor of the state of Paraná, Roberto Requião.
*The journalist travelled at the invitation of Petrobras. Translated by Mark Ament
