Soybean oil dregs can be turned into a useful biofuel, according to research going on at Brazil's University of São Paulo. A new technique makes use of the byproducts of the soybean oil industry, with the advantage of reducing the transformation process from 24 hours to 30 minutes, utilizing a reusable catalyst made of copper and vanadium.

Brazil generates about 300 million liters of soybean dregs each year, which is generally dumped. The new approach “will allow production of 300 million liters of biofuel” of high quality and meeting the specifications for a variety of uses, chemist Miguel Dabdoub, head of the study, told Tierramérica.

Now they are preparing for construction of “a large-scale industry” that will use this process which has already been proven in pilot projects, Dabdoub said.