$30M Biodiesel Plant Slated for Argentina

Cordoba, Argentina [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Repsol YPF, a Spanish-Argentinean petroleum company, will invest $30 million to build the Argentinean Bio Fuel Investigation Center, and estimates that it will begin making biodiesel at the plant in 2007, hoping to become the first major producer of this renewable fuel in Argentina.

The plant is expected to produce 120 thousand cubic meters of biodiesel per year, which will initially be combined with diesel fuel in a 5 percent proportion. In the future, biodiesel will comprise 10 percent of diesel fuel. Currently, 98 percent of the biodiesel produced in the world is produced in Europe. Germany is the country with the highest production capacity. Through the Argentinean biofuel project, YPF is ensuring South America follows in Europe’s footsteps by integrating biofuels into currently used fuels in order to take better care of the environment. In Argentina, biodiesel is not taxed, unlike fuels that are derived from petroleum. Plus, its production cost is lower. That is why, from an economic point of view, biodiesel is considered a diesel fuel substitute of superb quality.