Brazil to Move to B15 Biodiesel in March of 2024

The Brazilian government announced plans to speed up the increase in the amounts of vegetable oil that is blended into biodiesel. Currently, the blend is 12% (B12) and that will go to 14% (B14) in March of 2024 and 15% (B15) in March of 2025. The announcement was made by Brazil’s CNPE energy council which had been expected to increase the blend to B13 next year. Soybean oil accounts for approximately 70% of the vegetable oil used in Brazil’s biodiesel.

The Brazilian Vegetable Oil Processors Association (Abiove) had advocated for a higher blend percentage and they indicated that the sector would be more than capable of meeting a higher blend. The soybean crush capacity in Brazil is estimated at 69 million tons or 15 million tons more than what is projected for 2024. In fact, Abiove is proposing a B20 blend for large urban areas of Brazil.

Biodiesel advocates are pushing for the eventual use of B100 and several large companies are already converting some of their truck fleets to B100. The truck manufacturer Scania is already selling trucks designed specifically to use B100 fuel.

CNPE also formed a working group to address biodiesel imports and will suspend imports until the working group completes its discussions. An additional working group will discuss the possibility of increasing the amount of ethanol blended into Brazilian gasoline from the current 27% to 30%.

Tags: Brazil, estimate, Vegetable Oil, biodiesel