Brazil Macaúba coconut (7 times more oil than soybeans) will recover millions of hectares MORE depollute air world (SAF drop in) PLUS replace up to 60% eucalyptus
The Macauba coconut tree Brazil Socioenvironmental and Energy Projects – “our strategic and unpublished world short Diagnosis (only 07 pages): “Its intensive cultivation and promotion for 20 up to 50 years of good harvests (already in intensive final improvement/development by our EMBRAPA (Brazilian Government agr.Research System) more the UFV Family farm University PLUS with intensive R&D companies, in part, thanks to the many multi-investors in Brazil, especially the giant Arab MUBADALA/Acelen more BASF/Germany, Groups) – yielding up to 7 times more oil per hectare/year than annual soybeans (for food and/or biodiesel), according to ACELEN S.A./EMBRAPA – can recover millions of hectares of tired lands, savannas and caatingas, already well degraded in Brazil. The same goes for cleaning up a lot of the air world (SAF - Sustainable Aeronautical new Fuel up to “drop in” now mandatory and increasing in the United Kingdom - see below) and even replacing a certain part of the business/promotion of eucalyptus/paper-cardboard and/or pine tree (these carbon re-releasers through burning in the short term and/or clogging/flooding such as sewer plugs/caps, landfills, dumps, rivers, etc.), as many can compete for areas. Meanwhile Macaúba can be much more profitable (perennial for 20 to 50 years and with low costs) and for everyone and much more sustainable and not like the, unfortunately, now even named as “green deserts” by BBC Brazil.
After all, the new Macaúba tree, when well cared for - for various purposes, especially for SAF - is likely to be perennial for up to 50 years (ideally, it should be well exploited at minimum for up to 20 years), while eucalyptus trees for pulp/paper/cardboard, after being replanted, take 7-10 years to be harvested, while pine trees - for pulp and/or furniture - take 10-12 years to be harvested. In other words, eucalyptus has an average economic lifespan of 1/3 of that of macaúba (3/3) - that is, eucalypts useful life is minus 75% than macauba coconut tree -, before needing to be replanted and with new huge costs.
However, initially, and even for the sake of fairness, I must state that I am absolutely not against the phenomenal global pulp/paper/cardboard industry. Nonetheless, in the name of the already many symptoms of the very serious current climate changes - now urgent and verifiable - many rapid changes in “personal” and, above all, “business” / “investor” thinking is needed for real and much faster global environmental solutions (that are not just carbon re-emitting/burying/trapping).
Therefore, I am much more in favor of everyone reconverting at least 60% of their current Eucalyptus/Pinus areas for pulp/wood production, into future areas (differentiated/environmental rescuers and delighting/meeting/helping consumers' socio-environmental desires much more, as the SAF areas in Europe already do) with plants for new, much more sustainable fuels and much larger real CO2 sequestrators and rapid recuperators of air, soil, water and biomes, etc. with, for example, corn for ethanol/DDGS and macaúba for aeronautical biodiesel SAF/ships. Therefore, also I humbly come - and on behalf of the future of our children, grandchildren and other family members, employees and consumers - to propose that they no longer constantly increase their Eucalyptus/Pinus areas only in search of even greater corporate profits. On the contrary, I propose that they expand much more and pay much better for the currently minimal recycling of paper/cardboard/packaging, etc. (today, with collections by very poor people and/or street people and at very low prices).
It would also be great and even essential that they use their vast experience with continued socio-forestry incentives and everything to reconvert these old areas (60%), plus the new ones in acquisitions/planting of eucalyptus and/or pine, for such crops - currently a priority - above, as much or much more profitable per hectare/year. After all, our Macaúba is almost perennial, producing a lot/making a lot of profit and for 20 to 50 consecutive years, if well cared for, and much faster (corn for ethanol/DDGS – this one by-product and type of animal feed with up to 26% crude protein - produces a lot and continuously collects the maximum carbon per hectare and in 5 months and with up to 2 crops/year in the same place and/or in succession, soybeans and macaúba already produce in the 5th or 6th year). Thus, both - plus the new miraculous and very fast trees described - already have the best miscible/verifiable socio-environmental appeals/results and, possibly, even with much lower consumption of water, electricity and other industrial chemicals in their processing.
Current, given reality more mainly future of truly sustainable cultivation of Macauba for the production of SAF and other products, it can be said today that eucalyptus and pine crops are not sustainable, as many scientists, consultants, and perhaps even directors of our IBAMA (the regulatory, controller and supervisor body of Brazil Ministry of the Environment) and other ministries and maybe some celluloses company/bodies technicians insistently claim in Brazil and other countries. Thus, these are crops that compete for similar areas and are therefore substitutable, and priority must be given to the most sustainable crops and those with the best miscible socio-environmental purposes and results, as well as the most profitable crops, within 50 years. The current high global pressures/situations in this sense - very noble and fundamental - are much more a result of the global environmental urgency, now, both due to the greater sequestration - that is, with easier, cheaper, more miscible and much more credible actions - and due to the non-emission of CO2 - these still with possible actions that are much more expensive, in addition to being much more difficult and much more complicated to implement, as they involve high interests and lobbies from giant global sectors that emit - quietly and very united - up to 75% of the world's CO2 combined (only 25% is from all vehicles), especially comes from oil companies, mining companies, agribusiness suppliers/even some deforesters and food factories).
THUS, honestly (in the current urgent view) and well compared and even documented, it is already possible to note that the cultivation of macauba already surpasses – in socioenvironmental really sustainable visions - eucalyptus and pine cultures, processing and results in at least 05 actions/results, namely:
1) Macauba mainly produces SAF - the new sustainable aviation fuel - to combine with and clean aviation kerosene, which emits at least 30% less CO2. Eucalyptus/pine pulp does not fulfill this valuable environmental function and is used to produce cardboard/paper, 60% of which will be burned within 6 months (current global cellulose stocks only last 51 days), plus 40% will either be buried where it will survive for up to 20 years, and/or will join urban/MSW and rural waste (around 26% of urban waste is made up of paper and cardboard and could be fully recycled if well paid/incentivized, but without real interest and actions – mandatory or not – from cellulose manufacturers and paper companies) PLUS with sewage, food scraps and, when they join/stick together – because they no longer have oxygen level more due to osmosis, etc. – they create small to medium-sized plugs/bushings/piles that clog toilets, sewers, lakes and rivers, etc., contributing to damming and to urban flooding. In addition to killing people and animals, this causes a lot of local and regional socio-environmental damage and losses (see the 2023 serious case in RS State Brazil), the solutions for which will have to be paid for by all the people, especially the neediest, who are always the most affected. This is what can be seen in the famous Wikipedia encyclopedia, which describes the production of cardboard and paper as unsustainable but also very harmful to nature and humanity. See more details in Portuguese at: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impacto_ambiental_do_papel ;
2) Although their leaves are not as suitable/thin for direct carbon sequestration (photosynthesis), such as those of corn, sugarcane and grass for cutting/feed, both sequester a lot of carbon in this way in crops (even considering the very different stands of plants per hectare), but the minimum useful life of eucalyptus is 7 years (in pines it is 10 years), meaning only 1/3 of the minimum period of 20 years for macauba (which can reach 50 years), that is, eucalyptus sequesters around 75% Co2 less than macauba, in kg/hectare/year and by useful life;
3) Although the digestible protein content - as feed from by-product/residues of macauba processing - is still low (around 6%, compared to high level of the MDPS another by-product/residues comes from corn for ethanol and with 25% PD and from soybean meal with up to 35% PD), in the manufacture of SAF or other items with the macauba fruit, in addition to oil, other items/by-product/residues are produced including a cake that can be used in human and animal feed (in general, it goes to fed to beef and dairy cattle via confinement, where it helps to reduce – through earlier slaughter – methane emissions, which are much more harmful than CO2). However, the manufacture of eucalyptus pulp does not produce any by-products, especially in the form of feed;
4) Many and diverse chemical products are used in the manufacture of cellulose (sodium hypochlorite, sodium hydroxide, chloroacetic acid, industrial gases, anionic polyacrylamide, AKD glue and cellulase enzymes), which make their production even less sustainable. In the case of the manufacture of SAF with macauba oil in the short and medium term, the most commonly used technological routes are thermal ones called FT-SPK (Fischer Tropsch for direct and immediate hydrogen, to be obtained only at very high temperatures such as those obtained, even easily, in the very modern DD/CFB MSW and biomass/residues fast singasifiers – no burning or incineration – with MSW urban and rural waste and biomass/bark/straw) or HEFA hydrocracking. Thus, less chemical and much more thermo-hydraulic routes are used;
5) Also, when planting and harvesting eucalyptus and pine, there is a large consumption of petroleum derivatives in the machinery (which greatly harms the “footprint = carbon footprint” of these crops) and this is only every 7 years, whereas in macauba the consumption is much lower and occurs only every 20 to 50 years. In general, the macauba “stand” contains only 400 plants/trees per hectare, compared to up to 1,666 trees/hectare of the ideal eucalyptus stand per hectare (very dense spacing of 3.00 x 2.00 m).
In the world, “biofuels (ethanol and biodiesel) are produced mainly from biomass. In 2022, 175.0 billion liters were produced, of which 114.2 billion were ethanol and 60.8 billion were biodiesel, according to the IEA - International Energy Agency. Biofuels avoided the consumption of 2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2022, a volume corresponding to 4% of the global demand for oil in the transportation sector (that is, still very little compared to the already huge and urgent need for rapid global depollution). World production of biofuels, including ethanol, biodiesel and HVO (“Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil”) grew more than 10 times between 2000 and 2019”.
“In the world, the largest producer of biodiesel is the USA with 4.5 billion liters in 2015, followed by Brazil with 4.2 billion liters. In Brazil, Law 13.033/2014 requires the addition of biodiesel to diesel, starting with 7% in 2015. In Brazil, in 2015, the main sources of biodiesel were soybean oil (74% of supply) and beef tallow/fat (20% of supply)”.
“In 2022, the USA has already produced an incredible 14.5 billion liters of biodiesel. The country also leads the production of ethanol, from corn, with 57.5 billion liters. “Brazil is the second largest producer of ethanol (most of it still from sugar cane, but corn is currently the fastest growing) with 35.6 billion liters, and the third largest producer of biodiesel, losing the silver medal for biodiesel to Indonesia (palm oil).
In Brazil, “flexfuel” cars represent about 90% of the light vehicle fleet, even allowing consumers to choose higher ethanol blends when the product prices are advantageous, although such “flex” engines weigh up to 20% more than single-fuel combustion engines and, therefore, lead to much more expensive vehicles that are not as economical in terms of consumption, since our thermal engines already lose 75% of the potential energy of fuels, especially petroleum derivatives. In 2022, the total ethanol blend was 27% in energy terms, and is expected to increase to up to 35% by 2030. See more public data in portuguese at: https://exame.com/esg/brasil-e-o-segundo-maior-produtor-de-biocombustiveis-do-mundo/ .
Also, in Brazil, unlike palm oil (the most produced and consumed oil crop in the world, but very demanding in terms of rainfall of 150 mm/month per plant, which restricts its cultivation to the Amazon State and southeastern Bahia regions = Atlantic Forest), our Macaúba, according to EMBRAPA, is widely adapted to the Brazilian Savanah more Pantanal regions and with the technology currently widely available for this purpose. It can also be found in large numbers in naturally occurring massifs in the aforementioned areas. See more data in Portuguese at: https://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/bitstream/doc/967159/1/DissertacaoCrissia.pdf. When domesticated Macauba palms tree are already ahead of the game, as palm oil production today is in the range of 3,500 to 4,000 kg/hectare/year, while non-domesticated macauba palms already produce 4,000 to 5,000 kg/hectare/year of oil for up to 50 years.
“In 2024, Brazil will reach a historic record for biodiesel production, driven by the increase in the mandatory blending percentage with diesel to 14% at the end of the year that goes to 15% in March 2025 and to 25% in 2031. In Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul State is the state that produces the most biodiesel and the BSBIOS Company is one of the three largest biodiesel producers in the country.
Today, in the world, mainly in Brazil, after the recent and severe environmental disasters caused by climate change, with visible, costly and deadly effects in many places (more susceptible/less planned/less believing, etc.), the fever - and the global or personal socio-environmental demand - is no longer just to reduce emissions of the many GEF gases (CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride), but also to expand crops and actions that are highly proven and very fast sequesters of CO2.
The new current priorities - whether we like it or not - are to prioritize extremely fast-growing grains and/or semi-perennial woody/forest trees (maximum 4 to 6 years to harvest), with low to medium sizes and high levels of daily growth, via high rates of photosynthesis (intensive sequestration of CO2 to transform it into O2 plus sugars = internal energy) in their leaves, roots, branches, fruits, etc. As the seas/oceans are increasingly polluted by plastics and microplastics and subject to rapid changes in high temperature and violent currents, we can no longer count on the maintenance and even increases in the once intensive capture of CO2 by algae and plankton in seas and rivers. Instead of floating on the surface of the sea, plastic polymers sink and alter the carbon cycle and the greenhouse effect. They are clumping together in “sea snow” – a normal ocean condition generated by particles of microalgae, bacteria and phytoplankton that slowly sink into the sea – and becoming denser than water, with the help of microorganisms. See in Portuguese at: https://jornal.usp.br/atualidades/plasticos-descartados-no-oceano-se-transformam-e-geram-impactos-climaticos/ .
Thus, we have the duty to cultivate much more sustainable very fast corn grain for ethanol/DDGS – “Dried Distillers Grains with Soluble”, this which can have up to 4 highly socio-environmental functions/aids added together and quickly and fundamentally for the survival of all humanity, as well as its animals and biomes, as it allows us to sequester up to 14 times more CO2 –in kg/hectare/year as proved in USA research – than the centuries-old and beautiful trees of the Amazon (see my various articles/research/diagnoses – free/zero sponsorship/patriotic/comparative – previously about this here on this same site). The same goes for many more macaúbas. The same goes for cultivating many more new, very fast trees – even of commercial nature, although not very demanding – but much faster and with record growth and in up to 4-6 years, a period in which they will already sequester up to 11 times more CO2 (in kg/hectare/year) - as proved in Brazilian Amazon more our UFMG University researches – than by the beautiful and famous trees of the Amazon forest and/or of local natives trees. Examples include the white angico more the paricá, pau de balsa, guanandi, tatajuba and even some fruit trees such as açaí amazon coconut and cupuaçu amazon coconut and even with some USA-Brazil grasses that are only used for quick cutting/grasses for cattle confinement for slaughter and for cows to feed – and greatly reduce their emissions of harmful methane – such as cameroun very height/fast grass more as USA mischantus grass idem, etc. and even agave cacti for ethanol.
In a way, I am against recoveries degraded/tired land with native trees, because they – in addition to being much slower too – will continue to be, culturally, the most desired by loggers, farmers and other local trees destroyers who will also cut them down quickly, that is, they help or solve very little and even harm the less noble ones, but cultivated for this purpose.
Now, as the best gift in recent years, there are possible and excellent crops with our Macaúba palm tree (“Acrocomia aculeata”) – a coconut tree that is still tall and almost native/very adaptable to our savanna and arid inlands – for SAF production (see small diagnosis below), this in giant projects mainly if our Embrapa Forestry Vertical-Integration/Promotion Programs (as with eucalyptus and pine integrated vertical private programs for cellulose = the famous “green deserts”, according to BBC Brazil diagnostic, and whose papers/cardboards quickly become new carbons with their re-releases through burning and/or become plugs/plugs/glues that are very harmful to bathrooms, the environment, dry and buried garbage, sewage, more for damming rivers and flooding, etc.) and with many international investors already eyeing the best locations in Brazil for so many macaúbas that will be needed in the future. This is the main focus of my comparative diagnosis of sustainable biofuels and real socio-environmental sustainers (it is not enough to be just environmental).
Thus, the world climate and forest situations, demands, priorities, etc. – due to current and future global socio-environmental emergencies – have already changed a lot in the last 5 years and their current fast forest/fast trees new requirements are already added to and may even exceed current and future global food requirements, which, without a doubt, already greatly favors and will further favor Brazil.
Before we get to know our Macaúba palm oil better, let's take a look at what “SAF” is and its global perspectives and requirements.
SAF, “Sustainable Aviation Fuel” or “aeronautical biodiesel”, is an alternative fuel made from non-petroleum raw materials that significantly reduces CO2 emissions from air transport. SAF can be mixed at different levels with QAV - aviation kerosene or similar, with initial limits between 10% and 50% (but which will reach 100% in the near future, when the famous “drop in” occurs with SAF - see below), depending on the raw material and how the fuel will be produced. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), more than 360,000 commercial flights have already used SAF at 46 different airports in 2022, mainly concentrated in the United States and Europe. The world “Sustainable Aviation Fuel” (SAF) emits between 70% to 90% less CO2 than the fossil jet fuel. SAF is produced from renewable sources such as vegetable oils, biomass, animal fats, waste gases, among others, offering a much more sustainable alternative to petroleum-based jet fuel.
Like other vegetable oils, SAF can also be used directly and in a unique and pure form in many existing aircraft models (such as our Brazil future B100 biodiesel), that is, it has a high “drop-in” characteristic, that is, SAF can in future can replace completely all fossil aeronautic fuel high pollute demanded, without the need for adaptations to engines or their distribution infrastructures.
So, the global aviation industry is already urgently seeking to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 with strict targets to reduce its emissions. It is estimated that global air traffic represents ONLY about 3% of total CO2 emissions and the trend is for this to increase given the expectation that flights will double in the coming decades.
However, beneficially (contrary to what many people think) worldwide, aviation is responsible for ONLY 2% of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and 12% of all CO2 emissions from transportation. Furthermore, according to experts, today a flight produces half the emissions compared to 1990.
Even so, significant investments are being made in research and development (R&D) for the large-scale production of “Sustainable Aviation Fuel” SAF, a fuel that could eventually replace, even completely (100%), the kerosene currently used.
With the example above, a passenger flying from Belo Horizonte City to São Paulo City is responsible for the emission of 55 kg of CO2. Therefore, on a flight in an Airbus A350, with around 400 passengers, the total emission is around 7,700 kg – that is, almost 8 tons of carbon dioxide – and this does not include cargo and ground transportation.
In 2022, the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) set a goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions from international aviation by 2050. ICAO member states have already committed to reducing CO2 emissions by 5 percent by 2030. In addition, the international aviation industry has set an ambitious goal of achieving net-zero carbon by 2050.
The SAF presents the best near-term opportunity to achieve these goals. The SAF “Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge,” announced in 2021, brings together multiple federal agencies to expand domestic consumption to 3 billion gallons by 2030 and a bold 35 billion gallons by 2050, while achieving at least a 50 percent reduction in life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions.
Thus, we see those future European demands for airborne SAF - already quite sustainable - are already much higher than those forecast for the likely, real, unsustainable and very expensive green H2 for electric vehicles.
However, the global supply of SAF is still very low. In 2023, production and consumption were 600 million liters (companies bought the entire volume produced) and, for 2024, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecast was only 1.8 billion liters.
By 2024, Boeing has increased its SAF purchases for its operations by 60%. The aircraft manufacturing giant has purchased 35.6 million liters of a blend with 30% renewable fuel SAF. The blend is composed of 30% SAF produced by Neste and World Energy from waste such as fats, oils and greases PLUS 70% conventional jet fuel. It will be used in the “Boeing ecoDemonstrator” Program and on Boeing’s commercial operational flights in the United States. Currently, according to Boeing’s vice president of environmental sustainability, about 20% of the fuel used by the company is already a blend of SAF and the plan is to increase this percentage.
According to Boeing’s announcement, it will receive 4 million gallons of SAF blended with petroleum jet fuel at it fueling stations in the Pacific Northwest. Signature Aviation’s EPIC Fuels will supply 2.5 million gallons of Neste plus Avfuel will supply 1.5 million gallons of Neste blended SAF.
Furthermore, in 2011, the Dutch airline KLM operated the world’s first commercial flight partially powered by fuel made from used cooking oil. For such a giant Dutch company that cares deeply about the environment and the environment, sustainable aviation fuel is unfortunately not yet widely available. This means that SAF is still at least 3 to 4 times more expensive than it should be. Today, only a very small part of the millions of tons of kerosene used by commercial airlines is SAF. We have added 1% SAF to the fuel system at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport for each departing flight. This means that we have doubled the 0.5% SAF we started with in 2022. Although 1% SAF may seem like a small amount, it is an important step in the right direction. Our goal is to gradually incorporate more SAF, aiming for 10% of our total kerosene use by 2030. As we use more SAF, we will adjust our ticket prices. The price increase is based on your travel class and the distance of your flight. See more information in English at: https://www.klm.com.br/information/sustainability/sustainable-aviation-fuel .
In addition, in the United Kingdom, since January 2025 - as an excellent global socio-environmental example and setting a great global example, SAF (also obtained from soybean oil and even from leftover cooking oil) has been mandatory and aims to REVOLUTIONIZE FLIGHTS, with the goal of zeroing out air carbon emissions by 2050. At the outset, the Department for Transport made it mandatory for SAF to constitute at least 2% of all aviation fuel on flights departing there, and this will increase annually to 10% by 2030 and 22% by 2040. These are ambitious goals, but, according to the British Government, they are achievable, and should result in around 1.2 million tons of SAF being supplied annually to the UK airline industry by 2030, enough to around the world 3,000 times. SAF is made from sustainable sources, such as household waste or used cooking oil, and produces on average 70% fewer carbon emissions than traditional fossil-based jet fuel.
From this point forward, aviation will be a greener and more sustainable form of travel, representing a significant milestone for the UK SAF industry. SAF is a critical component in the industry’s plan to achieve zero emissions, accounting for almost 40% of the carbon reduction that will make zero emissions a reality by 2050.” See more data in Portuguese at: https://aeroin.net/entra-em-vigor-a-obrigacao-de-uso-de-2-de-combustivel-sustentavel-de-aviacao-em-voos-que-decolam-no-reino-unido .
Also, see complete data in Portuguese on SAF production in the world and in Brazil at: https://www.gov.br/mme/pt-br/programa-combustivel-do-futuro/analise-economica-diferentes-rotas-de-producao-de-saf.pdf .
Returning to the our “Macaúba” palm (“Acrocomia aculeata”), it is a plant that is still little studied/little tamed/adequately developed and still almost never used, but already abundant in the Brazilian savannah, but which can be found in almost all of the Americas (with an estimated total area of ??12.0 million hectares), from Mexico to Argentina.
In 2023, the global market for Macauba oil was estimated at Us $ 101.6 million, and is expected to increase to Us $ 366.4 million in 2033 (+13.7% per year), mainly driven by much higher consumption in the Asia-Pacific region. See more data in English at: https://www.sphericalinsights.com/reports/macauba-oil-market .
The Macauba can also be grown in areas that were previously used for other forestry crops, until they are converted to “Green Deserts” as BBC Brazil called them above – Please read in Portuguese at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/articles/cxeev8l3mpko .
According to the UN, around 12 million hectares of land are lost each year in the world, and this is land where 20 million tons of grain could have been grown.
In Brazil, in 2018, the total area of ??degraded pastures (with all types and stages of degradation) was estimated by our EMBRAPA agr-Research System at approximately 160.0 million hectares, which occupy almost half of the country's rural establishments (I am finishing another complete, bilingual and comparative article with 12 pages about this).
Since 2017, also the BBC Brazil has already named Macaúba as our “Green Gold” – See “The palm tree that is emerging as Brazil's new 'green gold'. See in portuguese at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/brasil-39788968 .
Unlike palm oil (the most produced and consumed oil crop in the world, but very demanding in terms of rainfall of 150 mm/month per plant, which restricts its cultivation to the Amazon and southeastern Bahia regions = Atlantic Forest), Macaúba, according to Embrapa, is widely adapted to the Brazilian savanna more our pantanal/swamps regions and with the technology currently widely available for this purpose. It can also be found in large numbers in naturally occurring massifs in the aforementioned areas. See more data in Portuguese at: https://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/bitstream/doc/967159/1/DissertacaoCrissia.pdf .
In Brazil, besides being abundant in MG state, it is also widely found in GO, SP, MT, MS, TO states and even in PI and CE states.
It is also widely used for human food purposes (ice cream, pies, cookies, cakes) PLUS as cosmetics (soaps and creams) PLUS as energy drinks and even serving as fence posts and as shade for comfort/rumination of cattle, goats and sheep. Furthermore, in addition to the excellent and high content of good quality oil and concentration for the production of biodiesel and biokerosene (SAF), the leftovers from processing can also be widely used as cake – not yet well researched/developed, but already considered as a certain complementary food source, as it is much more oily, but still with only 6% of PD Digestible Protein, as an aid in animal feed (up to 10% in the mixture) – more like charcoal, organic soil fertilizers, etc. Macaúba is also already used in the implementation and recovery of the APP areas – Mandatory Permanent Preservation Farms Areas, as required by the 2009 Forest Law in Brazil. In Minas Gerais, the maximum period for this to occur is 20 years. See more Portuguese data on processing results at: https://diariodonordeste.verdesmares.com.br/estilo-de-vida/meio-ambiente/macauba-o-que-e-e-para-que-serve-1.3277746 MORE at https://repositorio.ufmg.br/bitstream/1843/NCAP-8A8FMY/1/disserta__o_silene.pdf
However, it requires deep, clayey soils (not sandy), with medium texture and an average pH of 5.5 (types found in the savanna and caatinga regions).
Genetic improvement is happening very quickly, as in 1980 not even 10% of the seeds planted germinated, and today this has reached 74% if the techniques recommended by the protocol developed by our UFV - The Viçosa Federal University in MG State, highly specialized in Family Farming, are used (which also allowed the rapid expansion of the so-called germplasm bank, especially by determining the correct origins of the seedlings used).
Still in 2000, with an average productivity of 114.1 kg per plant and the cultivation of only 400 plants per hectare/year (not yet dense), it was already possible to harvest up to 45.6 tons/hectare of bunches/year and for up to 40-50 subsequent years, depending on the location and as long as there was good annual replenishment of soil fertility. Considering an efficiency rate of 70% in extraction, the yield of crude oil from its pulp already reached 4.0 tons and 0.8 t./hectare/year of almond.
In Minas Gerais State, Macauba is often found naturally (not cultivated much) in more fertile and/or better cultivated (not yet dense) stands in the region known as Alto Paranaiba, where it has already reached 6.9 tons of pulp oil per hectare/year (up to 7 times more in volume than soybean oil per hectare). Just as an example, in the same region, it is known that the dense cultivation of the new Brazilian coffee (just as an example of a plant already well developed by some research stations), also almost perennial (when well renewed), almost triples the current average productivity per hectare/year compared to cultivars, populations/stands and old techniques.
Although the macauba palm, when well cared for, lasts up to 50 years, the most stable production occurs up to 20 years and in an ideal stand of only 400 plants per hectare (not yet properly condensed for higher average productivity per area). In this case, the total fertilizer consumption amounts to only 240 kg/hectare/year, but a harvest efficiency of 80 hours/hectare will be required.
So, our Macaúba, almost perennial and for up to 50 years if well cared for (a useful period much longer than that of eucalyptus trees, which have to be replanted at very high costs and with huge Co2 emissions every 6-7 years at 22 to 28 m in height), thus remaining for up to 7 years without production in the same areas (whereas in the “pine” the cultivation cycle is even worse and with harvesting only after 10-12 years). However, as described, our new Macaúba has not yet been properly improved by EMBRAPA more UFV - and it still takes 5 years to start producing and, after that, it becomes very tall and difficult to harvest. However, very different from coffee, example, the current Macaúba trunks still reach up to 20 meters in height and with trunks of 20 cm to 30 cm in diameter, which makes harvesting very difficult, although in coffee, again, this has already been partially resolved, with these being up to 4 meters height, with the use of electric and even manual harvesters/strippers.
As with coffee example, macauba fruits cannot come into direct contact with the ground, otherwise they will become contaminated and lose their yields. However, as an example of these macauba trees, which are still very tall, in some parts of Brazil, have adequate and economical harvests of coconut and açaí that are already being carried out using special and inexpensive pulleys and without having to climb the tree, but rather using winches and even adapted tractors/loaders. See in portuguese: https://repositorio-api.fei.edu.br/server/api/core/bitstreams/0a481ef5-bcfe-4551-8883-511480358f3f/content .
Therefore, macauba harvests are not yet mechanized, but involve picking and felling by humans, generally poor and/or from neighboring family farms properties. In the north of MG State, The CooperRiachão regional family farmers Cooperative (based in Montes Claros city - MG) already has 350 well-organized and encouraged harvesting families.
Today, Macaúba is already included by Federal Government in the PGPM-Bio Government Program for Family Farming (driven by the Ministry MDA) and already has a minimum price of R$ 0.45/kg (for the 2025 harvest, the minimum price for macaúba will be R$ 0.54/kg = U s$ 0.09/kg for the North and Northeast and R$ 0.59/kg = U s$ 0.10/kg (by our actual high currency of Us $ 6,00 = Us $ 1,00) for the Central-West and Southeast). In the north of Minas Gerais State, the Fertibom biooil Company already processes 120 million liters of biodiesel/year, using 20 different raw materials, including Macaúba. However, its idle capacity is still 50%, due to the lack of supply of raw materials.
In 2022, the average cost of producing biodiesel with macaúba (average of all processing plants) was only R$ 1.16/liter= Us $ 0.19/liter. In terms of oil yields per hectare/year, according to the USDA in 2008, palm oil (a palm related to the macauba, although much more demanding in terms of rainfall and soil fertility) was the most efficient, with 5,724 liters/hectare, followed by European canola with 1,358 liters/hectare and, lastly and far behind the others, soybeans with only 857 liters/hectare.
As a giant socio-environmental example with extremely high potential and transformative energy sources (as Brazilian soybeans for biodiesel and corn for ethanol already are) MORE soil recovery for the entire world, as described in the United Kingdom, since January 2025, the use of aeronautical SAF, which is much less polluting and is a growing substitute for highly polluting kerosene, has been mandatory.
This UK news is excellent for the cultivation of our Macaúba/macaíba/bocaiuva/coco-babão/coco-espinho coconut trees in the Brazilian savannas and arid inland Northeast region, which are capable of producing up 7 times more oil per hectare/year than soybeans, especially in forestry development projects and even in degraded pasture areas, such as the project for an initial 200 thousand hectares of Macaúba (with an estimate of reaching 1.0 million hectares). This ambitious Project is already being implemented in the region of Montes Claros City - MG by the giant Arab OIL group MUBADALA/Acelen in a GIANT and exceptional - "but not surprising for me" - change of focus and a kind of “intelligently” or a "masterstroke" in the medium and long term strategical Program and/or MORE in a new socio-economic, environmental and long-term business marketing vision, even to continue making a lot of future continuous profit and now delighting its old oil consumers and never as a simple “greenwashing”/”fake news” (as many European chemical and petrochemical companies already, intelligently too, to do and a lot).
In my humble opinion, and in a well-informed and realistic way, even without moving many future global vehicles into electrification phases (which, in the global total, only emit 25% of the current CO2), the phase/survival of global oil – certainly much less emitting GEF in filterable processing – will still persist for 150 to 200 years, both for industrial processing/transforming energy supplies, as well as for fundamental industrial/commercial/residential heating, PLUS for pumping/fertilizers/rubbers/plastics/fine chemicals and other major uses, all of which still have few or very expensive substitutes/substitutes – and/or partial in volumes and hours of sun/wind/hydro/H2/nuclear energies – and/or even worse substitutes and all of which still have trends towards increased consumption.
For the ACELEN Renewable Brazil (the MUBADALA Group) this project in Brazil will be one of the most competitive in the world in terms of the cost of producing a liter of SAF. ACELEN aims to become “the largest and most competitive global producer of renewable fuels, in an integrated model that goes from the production of macaúba seeds to the final fuel” and everything will occur 100% on degraded pastures, due to the capture of carbon credits in these areas too.
“We are creating true bioenergy forests”. “The domestication of macaúba is not a project of one company, or even of one country, but a project for the world” (words by the ACELEN CEO).
In fact, what most attracts these giant international investors is the absence of current environmental barriers in Brazil, since the macauba palm is native and will only occupy degraded pasture areas. No less important is the prospect of economic return due to the exceptional productivity of vegetable oil extracted from the palm's coconuts.
In the ACELEN macauba Program at least 20% of the crop will come from family farming, which could inject income of up to R$ 130,000 per year = Us$ 22,000 (by our actual high currency of Us $ 6,00 = Us $ 1,00) for each 10-hectare property (= R$ 13,000/hectare/year = Us $ 2,200/ hectare/year), which currently has little or no economic viability.
The biggest ACELEN challenge will be processing the fruit to extract the oil and fully utilizing the other biomass, so that there is no waste generated, but rather added value.
It is estimated that ACELEN's Program added R$ 15 billion of investment (= Us $ 2,5 billion) over the next 10 years will have an economic impact of R$ 87,0 billion (Us $ 14,6 billion), given that an entire new production chain will be created. Studies are already underway to replicate the macaúba cultivation module from 200,000 hectares to 1.0 million hectares in the future.
In the macauba species – as much described - yields up to 7 times more oil per hectare than a soybean plant, Brazil's main export commodity. Additionally, like soybeans, macaúba also has the virtue of having a thousand and one uses. The oil is used for human consumption and for the chemical, cosmetics and fuel industries. The flour has a good level of protein in the future and it can be incorporated into the diet of humans and livestock, not to mention the use of fibers for ropes and weaving, and the coconut shell high volumes biomasses used both in the SAF manufacturing process (Fischer Tropsch for H2 direct source) as biochar, a type of charcoal that sequesters carbon and corrects the soil.
Until the 200,000 hectares of macauba palm oil plant enter production, which will take 3.5 years or more, the new ACELEN plant near its oil refinery (MUBADALA oil group of the United Arab Emirates) situated in Camaçari City, Bahia State, will run on soybean oil. During this period, it will consume the equivalent of all the soybean oil exported annually by Brazil, approximately 2.3 million tons/year. In 2026, when production with macauba oil begins, the biorefinery will produce the equivalent of 20,000 barrels per day of SAF or of green diesel, enough to power a fleet of over 1 million vehicles per year.
Also recently, in December/2024, the global Germany giant BASF more the Brazilian INOCAS S.A. (“Innovative Oil and Carbon Solutions”) signed a Strategic Agreement for the sustainable development of macauba oil in Brazil in the long term (operations better known in English as “MKO seed” and “MPO Pulp”). It states that, “since 2015, INOCAS has developed, implemented and refined an innovative model to grow macauba trees in degraded pastures and to improve soil quality and its productivity. Based on its strong intellectual property and experience, INOCAS intends to plant at least 50 thousand hectares of macauba in partnership with small farmers by 2030. “This system supports regenerative agriculture by combining forestry more livestock without an additional change in land use. It has positive impacts on soil quality, erosion control and biodiversity. Agricultural partnerships with small farmers aim to improve the livelihoods of their families”.
“The BASF will use INOCAS’ macauba seed oil in its personal and home care portfolio in Brazil and Europe.” “Commercial pilot volumes will be available as early as 2025.” “As a leading supplier of personal and home care ingredients, BASF’s Care Chemicals division is committed to securing and diversifying its supply of sustainable raw materials. We strive to source sustainably more to protect ecosystems and to promote sustainable practices.” “The pulp oil can be used in the process of obtaining bio-naphtha, which can be converted into polymers, solvents, detergents, lubricants, synthetic fibers, fuels and other products. Regular withdrawal of macauba pulp oil for use as an alternative feedstock to replace fossil resources will begin in 2027.
“The use of macauba pulp oil in its bio-naphtha pool and in its mass balance portfolio will enable BASF to offer more products based on renewable raw materials and with a lower product carbon footprint.” For INOCAS, the strategic partnership with BASF will now enable it to rapidly expand its activities, generating significant positive social, environmental and climate impacts, increasing the productivity of degraded agricultural lands, expanding the habitat for native fauna and contributing to the mitigation of climate change. See more data in English at: https://www.basf.com/global/en/media/news-releases/2024/12/p-24-332 .
END
The Brasília Capital (DF) and The Porto Seguro City (BA) on January 10, 2025
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