Nov 09, 2023
Brazil's Amaggi Converting Part of its Truck Fleet to B100 Biodiesel
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The use of B100 biodiesel (fuel made from vegetable oils or beef tallow) is getting more attention in Brazil. Brazil's current biodiesel is B12 (12% vegetable oil blended with petroleum diesel) and it is programed to be B13 in 2024, B14 in 2025, and B15 in 2026.
Brazil's biodiesel producers have the capacity to exceed those values and they have petitioned the government to authorize B20 in large urban areas already in 2024. Approximately 70% of the vegetable oil used to produce Brazil's biodiesel is soybean oil.
Several companies in Brazil are taking this a step further and promoting the use of B100 with the largest being Amaggi, the giant grain and fiber producer. Amaggi announced earlier this week the purchase of 350 trucks produced by Scania with 100 of those trucks adapted to use B100 biodiesel.
With the delivery of the trucks starting in May of 2024, Amaggi will have the largest fleet of trucks using B100 and it is part of the company's goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2035. In addition to trucks, the company will convert their shipping and farming operations to B100 as well.
The B100 used by Amaggi will be 100% soybean oil produced in their newly opened biodiesel facility located in the city of Lucas do Rio Verde in the state of Mato Grosso. The soybean crushing facility already produces biofuel and the facility has the capacity to produce 368 million liters of B100 biodiesel per year.
Amaggi produces 1.2 million tons of soybeans, corn, and cotton annually on farms in central Brazil and in 2022, the company marketed 18.6 million tons of the same products. Amaggi currently operates 700 trucks and by the end of 2024, the company will have a fleet of 1,100 trucks. The company has decided to do more of its own trucking to avoid disruptions from strikes by independent truck drivers.
The other company that announced the use of B100 biodiesel is the giant meat packer JBS. JBS is the largest meat processor in the world and one of the largest biodiesel producers in Brazil and the leader in utilizing beef tallow, a subproduct of beef processing, to make B100 biodiesel. JBS announced a project to test the use of B100 biodiesel in a small fleet of its trucks. This is all part of the company's commitment to decarbonize its operations.
The project will utilize B100 made from beef tallow that will be produced in its facility in Lins, Sao Paulo and used to fuel three of its trucks.