Economic feasibility of biodiesel production from Macauba in Brazil

- Competitiveness between selling prices of biodiesel and petrodiesel was the main evaluated criterion.
- The main criterion to suggest worthwhile projects was the biodiesel selling price.
- Biodiesel plants with integrated oil mill and alkaline transesterification were profitable.
- Macauba showed to be a potential crop to be used in biodiesel production.
- The domestication and improvement on processing of Macauba are indispensable.

In this work the economic feasibility of biodiesel production in Brazil by using the Macauba oil as raw matter is studied. The software SIMB-E, in which a cash flow model applied to biodiesel production is implemented, was used during simulations. Economic indexes related to biodiesel production features, as well as the competitiveness between selling prices of biodiesel and petrodiesel were considered. It was found that all of the 8 simulated scenarios were potentially profitable, but only 2 of them presented competitive biodiesel selling prices, being considered as worthwhile projects. These were seed-oil plants with alkaline transesterification. Results also indicated that the success of biodiesel production still requires additional revenues beyond that derived from biodiesel itself, including income from the feedstock coproducts and glycerol. Macauba showed to be a potential crop to be used in biodiesel production. However, the domestication and improvement on processing of this species are indispensable to ensure its availability of long-term use.