2024-01-19 14:17:52
The search for alternative energy sources to fossil fuels is the order of the day around the world and Brazil can become a leader in this process, as it has one of the most diverse energy matrices on the planet. In addition to public policies focused on this topic, the country has companies that have been thinking about alternative sources to oil for years, such as the BBF Group (Brazil BioFuels), a palm oil producer in Latin America.
Palm oil, also known as dendê, has oil production potential per hectare ten times greater than soybeans and a chemical structure identical to that of fossil fuels in the carbon chain, which makes it highly efficient for the production of second generation biofuels, such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Green Diesel (RD).
For 15 years, the BBF Group has been cultivating palm oil in degraded regions of the Amazon and uses palm oil, the most consumed vegetable oil in the world, to produce biofuels and generate clean electricity for isolated regions.
“The company was founded with the purpose of changing the energy matrix of Isolated Systems in Northern Brazil, creating jobs, generating income and reducing the cost of electricity for the population, from a sustainable and clean matrix, replacing the use of oil fossil diesel with biodiesel made from palm oil. Over the years, it was possible to extend our operations to an even greater mission, of contributing to the country’s energy transition, also producing biofuels for other purposes”, says Milton Steagall, CEO of the BBF Group.
Currently, the BBF Group has more than 75 thousand hectares cultivated with oil palm in the states of Pará and Roraima. The company has the capacity to produce more than 200 thousand tons of palm oil per year. The company generates more than 6 thousand direct jobs and 18 thousand indirect jobs, in addition to encouraging more than 450 family farmers in the state of Pará. “We say that Grupo BBF operates from seed to megawatt”, says the executive.
Brazil can be a leader in the energy transition
Brazil has the potential to cultivate palm, in a fully sustainable way, on 31 million hectares of degraded areas in the Amazon region, according to robust work carried out by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa). Brazilian legislation for palm cultivation includes Decree 7,172, established in 2010 by the Federal Government, and is considered the strictest in the world in this sector, as it allows palm to be cultivated only in areas that were deforested in the Amazon region until December. 2007.
“Although its cultivation is permitted throughout this area, without deforesting a single forest tree, today, the palm is planted in approximately 300 thousand hectares in Brazil. With the 31 million hectares available, we have the opportunity to generate 186 billion liters of palm oil per year, for use in the development of biofuel to even serve the airline sector. This is more than what is extracted by Petrobras in our pre-salt, which is why I say that we have a true “green pre-salt” in our country”, says Steagall.
From 2026, the BBF Group will begin supplying SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) and Green Diesel to Vibra Energia (formerly BR Distribuidora) – under a off taker. The raw material for advanced biofuels will be palm oil cultivated by the BBF Group in the Amazon region. The refining will be done in the first biorefinery in the country to produce the unprecedented biofuels on an industrial scale. More than R$2.2 billion should be invested in the new plant, which will have the capacity to produce around 500 million liters of SAF and Green Diesel annually.
In addition to producing oil from the fruit, palm cultivation generates tons of biomass, which is now used to organically restore the palm trees themselves. But according to Steagall, it is also possible to use this abundant biomass to generate renewable energy in isolated systems.
About BBF Group
The BBF Group (Brasil BioFuels), a Brazilian company founded in 2008, is the largest palm oil producer in Latin America, with a cultivated area of more than 75 thousand hectares and a production capacity of 200 thousand tons of oil per year. The company is a pioneer in creating sustainable solutions for generating renewable energy in isolated systems, with thermoelectric plants powered by biofuels produced in the region. Its agricultural activity recovers areas that were degraded until 2007 in the Amazon, following the Agroecological Zoning of Oil Palm (ZAE), approved by Decree 7,172 of the Federal Government, of May 7, 2010.
The BBF Group has created an integrated business model in which it operates from the beginning to the end of the value chain – from sustainable oil palm cultivation, crude oil extraction, biofuel production, biotechnology and renewable energy generation – with assets totaling approximately of R$ 2.2 billion and activities generating around 6 thousand direct jobs in the North of Brazil. BBF Group’s operations are located in the states of Acre, Amazonas, Rondônia, Roraima and Pará, comprising 38 thermoelectric plants (25 in operation and 13 under implementation), 3 oil palm crushing units, a soy extruder and an industrial of biodiesel.
The company is expanding its biofuel offering and has signed partnerships for the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Green Diesel. The new sustainable fuels will be produced from 2026 in the country’s first Biorefinery, under construction in the Manaus Free Trade Zone.
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