Brazilproducedandconsumed3.8billion
litersofbiodieselin2016,down3%asa
resultofshrinkingdemandfordieseloil
B
razilian biodiesel powers the
transport sector, besides bene-
fiting the environment and the
Country’s socioeconomy. Pro-
ductionandconsumptionof bio-
diesel amounted to 3.8 billion liters in 2016,
down 3% in volume from the previous year.
The lower result derived by biodiesel mir-
rored the economic crisis, which caused
the consumption of diesel oil to shrink
in 2016. From November 2014 to Febru-
ary 2017, the mandatory blending of pure
biodiesel (B100) with diesel oil was 7%.
The percentage was increased to 8% as of
March 2017.”Several industrial plants are
idle andothers have even closeddowndue
to shrinking demand of biodiesel in 2016”,
says Donizete Tokarski, director-superin-
tendent at the Brazilian Biodiesel and bio-
kerosene Union (Ubrabio).
For the entity, and for other organ-
isms that represent the sector, production
could vary from4 to 4.1 billion liters in 2017.
Supply amounted to nearly 2 billion liters
(1,926,398 cubic meters) in the first half of
2017, according to data from the National
Powering
fleets
Higher biodiesel proportion in diesel will
expand internal soybeanprocessing
Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Bio-
fuels (ANP). In Tokarski’s view, the soaring
supply and rising consumption of biodiesel
alsodependon the resumptionof Country’s
economic activities and on the growth of
the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), factors
that exert an influence upon the demand
for diesel, besides the higher percentage of
B100 blendedwith diesel.
The volume of biodiesel generated in
the Country soared from 1.2 billion liters in
2008 to 3.8 billion liters in 2016. However,
the installed capacity is for the production
of 7.8 billion liters of biodiesel a year. There-
fore, the sector boasts a high potential to in-
crease considerably its supply of this biofu-
el. Since 2005, year in which the National
Program for the Production andUse of Bio-
Sílvio Ávila
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