Abbatoirs supply biggest biodiesel plant
28/08/2007
Brazil's largest meat exporter, the Bertin Group, has opened what it claims to be the largest biodiesel plant, in terms of production capacity, in the world in the city of Lins in the state of São Paolo.
The Lins facility will be able to produce 110 million litres of biofuel a year, which is 14% of Brazil's current demand. The company said it will concentrate on local demand to begin with, but that it aims to export biodiesel from the plant in the future.
It will use animal fat from its abbatoirs as the raw material for its biofuel production. A reaction between the fat and methanol produces biodiesel and glycerine, which can itself be used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and chemical sectors.
