January 1st 2008: The Day Brazil Goes Biodiesel

The scene of petroleum gushing out of an accidental hole in arid land, as shown in Hollywood movies illustrating the time when the fossil fuel was discovered in United States ground, is not part of the Brazilian scenario. In Brazil, petroleum lies offshore.

However, cities such as Caarapo, in the midwestern Brazilian state of Mato Grosso Sul, and Alto Araguaia, in the state of Mato Grosso (also in the Midwest), not widely known to Brazilians, will soon have biodiesel pouring out like rain.


The two municipalities will be important for the fuel’s consolidation in the Brazilian energy matrix. In the two cities, soy processing plants are being built by European multinational Agrenco. The units will have a production capacity of around 280,000 tons of the biofuel per year.

In the city of Caarapo, where soy and cattle raising drive the economy, the signs of the installation of the biodiesel plant can already be measured – and its financial effects can be felt.

“The factory should only be inaugurated in March 2008, but the real estate rental prices are on the rise since the construction of the plant was announced. And now, even renting a house is difficult,” says Chirato Alves Vieira, head of cabinet at the Caarapo city hall.

Brazzil Mag