"The great advantage is for the country to have an alternative fuel that helps in the reduction of carbon gas emissions, that reduces pollution," Mines and Energy Minister Nelson Hubner said at a press conference in Brasilia, the country's capital.
All filling stations will be required to offer diesel containing two per cent vegetable oil starting Tuesday, Huber said. He expressed confidence there will be enough biodiesel available to meet the demand, but acknowledged some potential delivery problems at first in remote areas of the country.
Some 800 million litres of biodiesel will be needed annually to meet the two per cent demand, but Brazil already has the capacity to produce more than three times that amount, he said.
Fuel distributors said they will be prepared.
"It's a bit of a challenge. The distributors have spent about 100 million reals to be able to store the biodiesel, but everything is ready and we have verified there is enough biodiesel supply to meet the demand," Alisio Mendes Vaz, executive vice-president of National Union of Fuel and Lubricant Distribution Companies, said in a telephone interview.
Biodiesel is produced in Brazil from soy beans, castor seeds, sunflower seeds and palm fruits, but Vaz said the vast bulk of Brazil's available biodiesel came from soybeans.
Brazil is a world leader in alternative fuels, poised to edge out the United States as the world's No. 1 ethanol producer. As production of soybean-based biodiesel ramps up, Brazil plans to slowly increase the percentage of the biodiesel blend to 5 per cent by 2013.
Environmentalists have praised biodiesel as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels, but increased production has stirred concerns that it could speed rainforest deforestation as soy bean growers advance into the Amazon.
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