Brazil will begin next year the industrial production of biodiesel and bioethanol from seaweed.
The first production plant of such biofuels will be built in Pernambuco, in the northeast of the country, following an agreement reached between the company See Algae Technology (SAT), from Austria, and Grupo JB, from Brazil.
The Austrian company will provide the technology and the Brazilian firm will contribute with the site to build the factory in Vitoria de Santo Antao, a town located 53 kilometres from Recife.
The plant and the marine farm of one hectare of genetically modified algae will be installed in the last quarter of 2013 with an investment of BRL 19 million (USD 9.3 million).
In the marine farm algae will be developed in an appropriate environment that will have a system that absorbs sunlight and transmits this solar energy via optical fiber up to closed reactors where algae perform photosynthesis, Xinhua reported.
It will also be possible to take advantage of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the ethanol production to favour photosynthesis and reduce the emissions of polluting gases into the atmosphere.