Brazil will begin testing diesel blends containing 20% biofuel by May

Renato Romio, the manager of the institute's vehicles division at the Maua Institute of Technology, announced on Thursday that Brazilian researchers will begin testing in May to determine the viability of increasing the blend of biodiesel to diesel up to 20%.

Brazil is a major producer of biofuels, primarily from sugarcane and soy. The current blends are 15% biodiesel for diesel and 30% ethanol for gasoline. The U.S./Israeli war against Iran, which began in February, has caused global energy disruption. This has led to Brazil?calling for higher blends of biofuels.

Romio said, "The idea is to begin in May," on the sidelines of a?event?held in Sao Paulo by the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries, (Abiove), and the Brazilian Institute of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels.

In the first phase of testing, the institute will use biodiesel blends that are 15% and 20%, known as B15?and B20? respectively. The first engine is expected to be installed next month.

He said that the fuels for testing are expected in the last week in May.

Romio stated that engines will be tested over 300 hours in order to assess filter clogging and injection system behavior, as well as to inspect the injector nozzle. The second phase of testing is also expected to analyze pollutants from diesel blended with 7% or?25% Biodiesel.

Romio stated, "We will be running B15 and B20." In addition to these fuels, we will also conduct emissions tests using B7 and B25. However, those are only emissions tests. The long-term road test will actually be with B15 and B20.

Daniel Amaral's, Abiove director of economics & regulatory affairs, stated that the planned tests were good news for the industry.

Amaral stated that the tests are a broad set of tests which have been thoroughly discussed by all entities involved in the production and use of biodiesel. It will open the way to blends greater than B15 and up to B20. This is a very positive scenario for the industry. Reporting by Oliver Griffin Editing Rod Nickel

(source: Reuters)