Flávia Albuquerque
Reporter - Agência Brasil

São Paulo - Brazil's investment in biodiesel production is expected to reach US$ 515 million in 2008, when production of this fuel is expected to amount to around 800 million liters. The figure should grow to US$ 1.5 billion in 2013, when domestic production will be 2 billion liters. This estimate was given by the deputy head of Analysis and Accompaniment of Government Policies of the Presidential Civilian Advisory Office, José Honório Accarini, who participated in the seminar, "Biodiesel - Strategies for Production and Use in Brazil," yesterday (26), in São Paulo.

The encounter, which ends today, is intended to demonstrate the advantages of biodiesel for the country, the progress of research in the field, the technologies employed to develop the fuel, and the lines of production incentives, among other topics. The organization also plans to make a space available for entrepreneurs involved in this area to express their opinions and provide successful examples from other countries to speed up the introduction of biodiesel on the market.

Accarini points out that everybody can gain from biodiesel. "The businessman and the family farmer can make money, and poor regions can get jobs and energy in remote communities," he said.

Translation: David Silberstein