MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil teams up with NASA for aviation fuel

Brazilian biofuel company, Tecbio, has linked up with NASA and US aerospace firm Boeing to develop a biokerosene aviation fuel, Tecbio's President Expedito Parente told a seminar yesterday.

The alternative vegetable-oils based fuel to power airplanes was invented by Tecbio in 1980 and flight tested in Brazil in 1984 before being abandoned. It attracted fresh interest after oil prices rose to record levels this year.

"We are starting to resurrect biokerosene ... the scenario today is different," Parente said, adding that the partnership with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Boeing was still at an early stage.

A memorandum of understanding was signed earlier this month.

Parente told the seminar in Sao Paulo that he expected to get the fuel patented in 2008.

Based in Fortaleza, capital of the northeastern state of Ceará, Tecbio has a biofuel project in the state of Piaui, also in northeast Brazil.

Tecbio, Brazil's largest biodiesel technology company, is implementing six projects and seeking funding for another four.