(Bloomberg) -- In Brazil’s Minas Gerais state north of Sao Paulo, more than 200 researchers are racing to commercialize an oil-rich fruit so that it can one day power jetliners.
Agronomists, biotechnicians and automation experts are the brains behind a $3 billion project to plant the little-known macauba palm tree across as many as 144,000 hectares (356,000 acres) of land — an area slightly larger than the city of Los Angeles — and then harvest it for sustainable aviation fuel.
Once the first trees planted start bearing fruit, likely in 2030, energy and biofuels company Acelen Renováveis plans to start processing macauba oil at a biorefinery it’s building in another part of Brazil.
Acelen Renováveis, which is fully owned by Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Capital, hopes to solidify Brazil’s role as one of the world’s top producers of biofuels and a leading supplier of clean jet fuel by industrializing the exotic fruit.
The company says its biorefinery under construction in Bahia state will eventually produce 20,000 barrels of SAF a day. That would translate to a big jump in worldwide output, which in 2025 was 41,000 barrels a day. Most SAF is derived from used cooking oil.
