| Brazilian firm Fusermann Oleos Vegetais exported 24,000 litres of jatropha oil to the US on 14 October, which will be transformed into aviation fuel by UOP, a subsidiary of conglomerate Honeywell.
The high-octane combustible will then be transported back to Brazil to be used in a test flight for a "major airline", Fusermann's director Luciano Leme told New Energy Finance. This is the first time in Brazilian jatropha has been processed into oil on a large scale, the director was quoted saying by Valor Economico.
Most of the firm's vegetable oil is currently derived from sunflower and cotton seeds, but this will change once the bulk of its jatropha plantations start bearing fruit in 2011. Fusermann is planning to double capacity of its crushing plant in Barbacena, Minas Gerais from 1,900 tonnes of seeds per month to 3,800 tonnes under a USD 2m expansion plan. The new capacity will provide feedstock for the company's own 9m-litre per year biodiesel refinery, scheduled to come online in January 2010.
Fusermann is one of six members of seed crushing consortium Jatropha BR, which includes Caramuru, the country's six most prolific biodiesel producer. The association manages its own plantations and offers technical assistance to farmers to develop their own.
Brazilian firm Biotins has also expressed interest in tapping this alternative feedstock. The Sao Paulo-based firm is currently expanding its biodiesel operations from 8m litres per year to 24m litres, all of which will be fueled from its own jatropha plantations. So far, all of the biodiesel it has produced has been from soybean oil. The 0.6m tonnes of jatropha seeds it generated in 2009 have been sold to firms conducting experiments on the seed in Africa, Asia and the US.
Currently, soybean oil accounts for 80% of biodiesel feedstock in Brazil, Which is most of country's derived from the Centre West region.
Source: Multiple media reports |
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