Source: O Liberal
(Published on 21 january 2011)
Amidst expectations of producing around one million tons of palm oil as of 2014, Pará is celebrating the completion of palm tree planting in January in the municipalities of the Vale do Acará and Baixo Tocantins regions. At the Moju cluster, the growing stage has been completed and the first oil extraction plant is being built, with production expected to begin in the second half of this year. In the municipalities of Concórdia do Pará and Tomé Açu, planting will also be completed this month, and should reach an area of 14,400 hectares, of which 2,000 hectares have been planted so far.
Vale will produce an estimated 500,000 tons of oil per year when the trees are mature. Part of this output will be transformed into 160,000 tons of biodiesel for the company’s own use. The idea is to cut CO2-equivalent emissions by around 12 million tons over the course of the project, compared to emissions of regular diesel, but not taking into account emissions produced in the biodiesel production chain.
Meanwhile, Petrobrás, with its Belém and Biodiesel Pará projects, expects to produce around 400,000 tons of palm oil in the state, which will be used to produce green diesel in Portugal. The product will be sold together with the project’s partner, Portuguese company Galp Energia, which aims to produce 250,000 tons of this biofuel per year. This will mark Petrobras’ entry into the European biofuel production market.
Vale’s investment will be US$305 million – more than half of the US$500 million to be spent on the project by the BioVale Consortium. In the case of Petrobrás, the company’s estimated investment in the Pará Biodiesel Project is approximately R$330 million.