Logistics

Using a new pipeline-based model, Uniduto Logística offers transport services that will benefit the ethanol market as a whole.

Pipeline-based transport is a global trend. In countries such the US, the pipeline network is over 800,000 km long and is used to transport different types of liquids. Russia has one that is over 300,000 km long.  Brazil’s pipeline network is only about 20,000 km long. Approximately 95% of all Brazilian ethanol is currently transported by highway.

Pipeline transport is carried out by a system of pipes that connects production areas with consumer hubs and maritime terminals, either by gravity or through pumps. Pipeline-based ethanol logistics provide numerous economic and environmental benefits. In countries where pipeline transport is widely used, logistical costs are much lower, making the productive chain much more competitive.

Once it becomes fully operational – transporting 16 billion liters of ethanol per year – 1,600 articulated vehicles will no longer be cruising Brazilian highways on a daily basis. That represents annual savings of about 85 million liters of diesel fuel used to move these trucks, in addition to fewer highway accidents and victims, a reduction in government spending for those who require long periods of treatment after accidents, less pollution and gas emissions during highway transport, plus a reduction in the generation of waste that is intrinsic to truck transport (oil and tires), among the many benefits.

Safety and reliability are other features of pipeline transport, since it meets deadlines and timetables, and is not hindered by outside influences such as climate, geography or even traffic. This alternative also offers one of the highest productivity rates in transportation, as it is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Accident rates for this mode of transport are also known to be very low.