Japanese brewer, Brazil oil giant team up on biomass project

This year, Asia-Pacific companies are venturing into Brazil. Japanese brewer Sapporo Breweries Ltd. said it is teaming up with two Brazilian companies, oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) and renewable energy firm Ergostech Renewal Energy Solution Ltd. (Ergostech), on a project to extract hydrogen from biomass residues for energy use. Sapporo stated that the initiative is the first-ever attempt to remove hydrogen from biomass residues using a pilot extraction plant measuring just one cubic meter in volume, aiming to reduce the cost of producing hydrogen as fuel to power vehicles and for other industrial uses. The companies will use Japanese-developed technology in extracting hydrogen and methane from non-alimentary products, which will be sent from Tokyo to Rio de Janeiro in July. Meanwhile, oil palm plantings under a partnership between a Malaysian cooperative, Felda, and Brazilian companies will start in the Amazon region in Brazil. Initially, 30,000 hectares of oil palm will be planted around Tefe, which will be gradually increased to 100,000 hectares over several years. The plantations will be linked to a downstream biodiesel facility. (March 24, 2009)