Açai Brazil:Biomass Gasification Partnership for Rural Electrification in Brazil
Tom Reed, Biomass Energy Foundation, February 27, 2007
The Biomass Energy Foundation has partnered with Brazil’s Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM) to bring biomass-generated electricity to the Amazon region.
The “Biomass Gasification Partnership for Rural Electrification in Brazil” will use açaí pits, currently a waste product from processing fruit pulp, to generate 80 kW of electricity to serve four communities in the municipality of Manacapuru, approximately 90 km southwest of the state capital Manaus. The bioenergy plant will be co-located with a new açaí processing facility that will allow villagers to generate income and improve their standard of living. Currently, the villagers collect the fruit but have no means to process it into pulp, so they must sell it to a middleman at a low commodity prices. A new school has already been constructed as part of the project.
BEF’s system will consist of two 40 kW gensets fueled by two air-blown downdraft gasifiers complete with gas cleaning and cooling systems and semi-automated system controls. System installation is scheduled for the summer of 2006.
The project has principle funding from Brazil’s Federal Ministry of Mines and Energy as a pilot facility under Brazil’s “Lights for All” universal electrification program. The International Utility Energy Partnership has also awarded BEF a small grant to monitor the greenhouse gas benefits associated with using biomass energy rather than distributed diesel generation, the current modus operandi, to serve isolated communities in Brazil.

Pro-Natura International, France,
Courtesy Fernando Martirena, September 2005