Petrobras moves forward on green polymers

The blog was very pleased to talk recently to Business News Americas about developments in Latin America. Please click here if you would like to read the full interview.
It highlights the key role being played by Brazil’s Petrobras, particularly in the development of ‘green polymers’. These are still very small in volume, compared to traditional polymers. But Brazil’s climate means that ethanol-based products can actually be viable without subsidy, a very important factor for future sales.
A new study also shows that its CO2 emissions are much lower, over the total lifecycle, even when the product is shipped from Brazil to Japan for use in packaging there. It reports that “1kg of ‘green’ PE emits 1.35kg of CO2 equivalent of greenhouse gas emissions, compared to between 4.55-5.10kg for traditional polymers, during its life cycle”.
Carbon footprint is of major interest to consumers around the world. So this kind of study is powerful evidence for the potential strength of the bio-based opportunity in Brazil.