Brazil’s energy minister inaugurates Be8’s new BeVant biodiesel unit

Silveira, Brazil’s minister of mines and energy, holds a bottle of green-colored BeVant, Be8’s new ready-to-use, drop-in B100 biodiesel product. (Photo: Tauan Alencar, MME)

Brazil’s minister of mines and energy, Alexandre Silveira, inaugurated a new manufacturing unit April 15 in Passo Fundo, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, for biodiesel producer Be8’s new BeVant product.

According to Be8, BeVant is an advanced biodiesel with a high degree of purity that can be used at 100 percent concentration (B100) in any diesel vehicle without the need for engine modifications.

It is a double-distilled methyl ester resulting from a process that generates quality and performance gains, which allows the product to be used in its neat form.

After the first phase of biodiesel production, the product undergoes double distillation and receives chemical additives in a process patented by Be8, resulting in a diesel substitute with a high degree of purity and ester content of 99 percent.

The fuel also features a green color to set it apart from other biofuels.

The delegation from the ministry of mines and energy (MME) also accompanied the start of construction on Brazil’s first wheat-ethanol plant, also located in Rio Grande do Sul.

In his speech, Silveira highlighted the importance of the partnership between the private sector and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), with the support of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), emphasizing that biofuel production does not compete with food production.

The minister also recalled the achievement that has marked his term as head of the MME so far: the Fuel of the Future Law.

“The law that President Lula allowed us to approve last year positioned Brazil as a leader in decarbonization in the transportation and urban-mobility matrix,” Silveira said. “The mandates gave farmers and producers more confidence and security to continue betting on production growth. There are $260 billion Brazilian reals (USD$44.3 billion) in investments until 2037 with an expansion of the harvest, new refineries and new research and development plants.”  

Total investment in the BeVant production line is $80 million Brazilian reals (USD$13.6 million).

“Today’s event is the result of a vision focused on expanding the harvest, building new refineries and research and development plants,” Silveira said. “Be8 BeVant is a pure and innovative biofuel, a green diesel that replaces 100 percent of fossil fuels and reduces particulate matter by up to 85 percent, carbon-monoxide emissions by up to 50 percent and black smoke emissions by 90 percent. Our brothers from Rio Grande do Sul are promoting a true technological revolution.”