Dec 22, 2023
Amaggi Farm in Mato Grosso, Brazil to Use Only B100 Fuel
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The company Amaggi, which is one of Brazil's largest grain producers and trading companies, announced that one of their farms will use only B100 biodiesel fuel starting in March of 2024. The farm, Fazenda Sete Lagoas, is in Diamantino in west-central Mato Grosso and the project is in partnership with John Deere.
The B100 biodiesel fuel will be produced using only soybean oil from Amaggi's soybean crushing facility in Lucas do Rio Verde, Mato Grosso. The farm has 3,600 hectares (8,890 acres) and they produce soybeans and corn. All the farm machinery will use B100 and their trucking fleet will be converted as well.
Amaggi's goal is to decarbonize their farming, industrial, and shipping operations by eliminating the use of fossil fuel. Their barging operations in northern Brazil will also be converted to B100.
Testing of B100 fuel started in March of 2022 on their Itamarati farm at Campo Novo do Parecis, Mato Grosso in conjunction with the machinery manufacturer John Deere. They amassed 20,000 hours of operating machinery using B100 while evaluating the security and efficiency of the fuel. Their conclusion was that John Deere's motors were compatible with B100 fuel.
Amaggi's executive president, Judiney Carvalho, commented that the company's goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to create sustainable farming and industrial operations.
Seventy percent of the vegetable oil utilized in Brazil's biodiesel is soybean oil and the government just announced that in March of 2024, the vegetable oil blend in biodiesel will increase to 14% (B14) and that it will increase to 15% (B15) in March of 2025. The biodiesel producers in Brazil have indicated that they have enough excess capacity to meet any future increase in biodiesel usage.