Welcome to Tropical BioEnergia S.A.
Tropical BioEnergia S.A. is a joint venture which will invest R$1.66 billion (US$1 billion) to build and operate two world class ethanol refineries in Brazil, South America.
Tropical BioEnergia brings together the complementary skills of three leading companies:
- The oil company BP with its fuels technology expertise and access to major fuel markets.
- The Maeda Group, one of the largest cotton producers in the world with extensive experience in Brazilian agriculture
- Santelisa Vale, the second largest sugar cane crusher in Brazil with its expertise in sugarcane production
With this background, Tropical is well positioned to become Brazil’s leading sustainable renewable fuels supplier of ethanol.
About Us
Tropical BioEnergia S.A. is a joint venture between international energy company BP and leading Brazilian firms Maeda Group and Santelisa Vale. The joint venture is building a 435 million liter (115 million gallons) a year ethanol refinery in Edéia, Goias State in Brazil and has plans to progress a second refinery in the future. The total investment of these plans is R$1.66 billion (US$1 billion).
BP will hold a 50 per cent stake in Tropical Bioenergia SA, and Maeda and SantelisaVale would each hold 25 per cent in the joint venture. This collaboration brings together BP’s fuels technology expertise and access to major fuel markets; Maeda Group’s experience in the agricultural value chain in Brazil; and Santelisa Vale’s leading position in sugarcane ethanol.
Operations at the first refinery are expected to commence in the second half of 2008, with full capacity reached by mid-2010.
The refineries will be positioned to supply domestic demand markets with the potential to export to the demand markets of US, Europe and Asia.
What is Ethanol?
A biofuel is a fuel made from biomass - organic material, such as sugar cane - which contains stored energy from the sun in the form of chemical energy. This stored chemical energy is then converted into a liquid fuel called a biofuel. Biofuels are blended with conventional fossil fuels, and can produce significant environmental benefits by reducing CO2 emissions.
Ethanol is produced using fermentation of starches and sugars from crops such as sugar cane and wheat. Currently Brazil is the world’s largest producer of ethanol, with passenger car ethanol usage at 45%. Brazil has two fuels available - petrol containing 25% ethanol and 100% ethanol. Nearly 60% of new cars sold are 100% ethanol fuelled.
In other countries, local fuel quality standards specify the maximum amounts of biofuels blended in road transport fuels in order to ensure compatibility with standard vehicles’ fuel performance, engine components and fuel systems.
Greenhouse gas emissions
Biofuels have the potential to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions from road transport because the plants from which they are produced absorb CO2 when they are grown. This offsets the CO2 released from the vehicle when the blended biofuel is used.
In addition, there are GHG emissions associated with the production of biofuels (e.g. fertilizers, pesticides, crop cultivation/harvesting, manufacture and transport of biofuels). Biofuels deliver GHG savings when all of these emissions are less than the corresponding emissions from the production of conventional gasoline/petrol and diesel from crude oil.
Sugarcane is the most efficient source of biofuel currently available. Sugarcane lends itself to further improvement through the use of advanced biofuels technology and will therefore be a compelling source of renewable fuel for the foreseeable future. It provides a greenhouse gas emissions reduction of up to 80 per cent
Feedstocks and Production
At our refineries, we will produce ethanol from sugar cane which will be owned and planted by the joint venture.
Ethanol is produced by the fermentation of starch or sugars in a very similar way to the method used to produce beer and wine. Fermentation is followed by distillation to remove the water and impurities and produce a pure alcohol.
Producing 435 million liter (115 million gallons) ethanol year will use around 4,8 - 5,0 million tonnes of sugarcane.
Brazilian sugar cane-based ethanol is more efficient to produce than the corn-based fuel made in the United States.
Tropical BioEnergia SA will make every effort to optimise production efficiency to minimise costs and maximise the environmental benefit from the biofuel.
Bagasse:
Bagasse is sugarcane waste, left over after crushing the sugar cane. Bagasse can be used to generate power in specific integrated bagasse cogeneration facility.
Besides producing ethanol, Tropical BioEnergia SA also expects to sell its surplus electricity made from bagasse to the state grid. It is anticipated that each refinery will export at least 30 MW of surplus power.
The rest of the sugar cane plant, often treated as residue today, is composed of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. The cellulose and the hemicellulose parts can be converted to sugars, which can also be used to produce lignocellulosic biofuels. Bagasse, is recognised as the preferred route to lignocellulosic-to-ethanol conversion and will give the refineries an advantaged position when advanced biofuels become a reality.
Useful Links
BP Biofuels
www.bp.com/biofuels
Maeda Group
http://www.maeda.com.br
SantelisaVale Group
http://www.santelisavale.com.br/
Contact Tropical BioEnergia SA
Tropical BioEnergia SA
Rodovia GO 410 - Km 51 - A Esquerda
Caixa Postal 10 Edeia - GO
fone: (64) 3643 1585 fax (64) 3643 1464
email: tropical@tropicalbioenergia.com.br |
