Brazil has developed a new diesel fuel mixed with vegetable oils that will sharply reduce its need for imported diesel, the state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said on Tuesday.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the new fuel represented a "revolution of tremendous magnitude for the 21st century," when state-run Petrobras presented the fuel in Curitiba, 670km southwest of Rio de Janiero.
"The world has had many wars because of petroleum" Silva said. Brazil "will be the most important country for renewable energy. Nobody will compete with us."
 
                    PHOTO: AFP
Silva said farmworkers who plant soy and other oil seeds "now will sow petroleum."
He cited Brazil's widespread use of ethanol -- sugarcane alcohol used straight or mixed with gasoline -- and biodiesel, a diesel fuel made solely from vegetable oils.
Petrobras said the fuel, called H-Bio, was developed over 18 months by mixing refinery petroleum with oil from soy, sunflower seeds, cotton and castor beans.
H-Bio fuel is different from bio-diesel, which is also produced with vegetable oils but is blended into regular diesel by fuel distributors, not at the refinery level.
Petrobras predicted that three refineries would produce the new fuel by next year. It declined to reveal expected production but said diesel fuel imports would decline "initially by 250 million liters a year."
Next year, Petrobras plans to use 256 million liters of vegetable oils in the production of H-Bio fuel, officials said. That will replace 15 percent of Petrobras' current diesel imports, estimated at 1.7 billion liters for this year.
Analysts have criticized the government's biodiesel program, saying small-scale farmers will not be able to produce sufficient amounts of biodiesel to meet the government's targets for biodiesel as a percentage of total diesel consumption.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,

UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention

REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.

GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on