APROBIO and ABrasCanola participate in the National Seminar of Biodiesel

Letter in defense of Biodiesel was delivered to the Minister of Rural Development and other authorities

During the 15th and 16th of September, in the auditorium of Embrapa, in Brasília (DF), Embrapa Agroenergy accomplished the National Seminar on the Agro-industrial Complex of Biodiesel in Brazil. The objective of the encounter was to discuss, in several fronts, the actions that have happened to the promotion of the National Plan of Production and Use of Biodiesel (PNPB), and to analyze the competitiveness of the sector, as well as to discuss on public politics and actions necessary for the processes of crop diversification.

The following representatives of the Association of Biodiesel Producers of Brazil (APROBIO) were present: the President of the Council of the entity, Erasmo Carlos Battistella, the vice-president of the association, as well as counselors and companies associated with the entity. At the opportunity, the President of the entity lectured on positive results of the sector and on the advances and new challenges. "It will be an important step for us to finalize the New Regulatory Mark of Biodiesel to strengthen the sector," asserted Battistella. The director also represented the Brazilian Association of Canola Producers (ABrasCanola), in order to obtain support from the Federal Government for the implementation of actions towards the creation of a National Project to the improvement of Canola Crop, which is an important crop that figures among the capable species of raw material for the production of Biodiesel.

In the seminar, the book "Agro-industrial Complex of Biodiesel in Brazil was also launched: Competitiveness of Productive Chains of Raw-Materials", work produced by the Unit with the support of the Financing Fund of Studies and Projects (Finep), compiling a set of technical information on different productive chains and opportunities like these ones as sources of raw material for the production of Biodiesel. According to the chairman of APROBIO and ABrasCanola, Erasmo Carlos Battistella, the work shows several positive aspects of Biodiesel. "The book enlightens many doubts and shows that there is technical as well as economic feasibility to other productive systems besides soybean for the production of biofuels," he stated.

Along with the seminar, a group, representing APROBIO, visited representatives of the Federal Government to deliver the Letter of the 1st South Brazilian Encounter: To build the New PNPB II Brazil, document elaborated from the meeting proposed by the entity, which occurred during Expointer 2011 in Esteio (RS). The Letter contextualizes the issues related by the association as important factors to the new Regulatory Mark. The Minister of Rural Development, Afonso Florence, Federal Deputy, Jerônimo Goergen, the leader of the Parliamentary Front in Defense of Biodiesel and the Director of the Department of Renewable Fuels of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Ricardo Dornelles, welcomed the group.

In the coming days, APROBIO will accomplish new actions in order to strengthen the sector and contribute to policies of structuring and growing of Biodiesel market at national level.