Biomass conversion program in Brazil

Abstract

Brazil has based its economic development largely on imported petroleum and petroleum based technologies. The high hike in the price of this fossil fuel and uncertainties in its availability have forced the country to search for alternative fuels and chemicals for substitution of petroleum derivatives. The return to the traditional use of biomass as fuel, but employing more efficient processes and technologies specially for liquid fuels, has been taken as a challenge to combat petroleum crisis. The paper describes and discusses briefly the technological state of art, the socio-economic and environmental impacts of a program of large biomass cultivation, conversion into biofuels and chemicals, and their use as petroleum derivatives substitutes.