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This excerpt taken from the PBR 20-F filed May 22, 2009. Bio-Renewables
We aim to become a major producer of biodiesel in Brazil and
actively participate in Brazil’s growing ethanol industry,
particularly in the production, transportation and exportation
of ethanol. Brazil has highly favorable climate and soil
conditions for growing sugarcane and vegetable oil crops and is
an important player in the international biofuels market.
Ethanol from sugarcane is widely used as a substitute for
gasoline in Brazil. We do not currently produce ethanol, but
distribute it through our Distribution business segment. We
intend to expand our participation in the ethanol business
through partnerships with ethanol producers and international
offtakers where our role would primarily be as a producer,
transporter and exporter of Brazilian ethanol. We also intend to
participate in
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the growth of the domestic ethanol market by investing in
ethanol plants that will reach 63.6 mbbl/d of production by 2013.
In recent years, we invested in the introduction of biodiesel
into the Brazilian market. By law, all diesel sold in Brazil was
required to be at least 2% biodiesel since January 2008; this
proportion was increased to 3% in July 2008. In an effort to
adhere to this mandate, we have been securing and blending
biodiesel supplies and furnishing these to smaller distributors
as well as our own service stations.
We have signed contracts to secure the purchase of vegetable
oils from family farmers and industrial producers in order to
supply our three biodiesel plants with a combined capacity of
2,950 bbl/d. These plants are located in Northeastern Brazil at
Candeias and Quixada and in Southeastern Brazil at Montes
Claros. We intend to increase our participation in the industry,
with a targeted installed capacity to produce 11 mbbl/d of
biodiesel in Brazil by 2013. The creation of Petrobras
Biocombustível in July 2008 to consolidate all initiatives
regarding ethanol and biodiesel production reinforces our
commitment to the environment and social responsibility.
We have also developed a new refining technology (H-Bio) that
allows us to introduce vegetable oils into our existing
refineries to produce a cleaner form of diesel. Six of our
refineries are already prepared to use H-Bio technology and we
plan to adapt all of our refineries for this process, which will
give us increased raw materials flexibility and access to
markets seeking cleaner forms of diesel.
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