Vale, the world's largest iron ore and nickel producer, replaced 100% of fossil fuels with biocarbon to produce commercial-grade iron ore pellets in a test at its pellet plant in Vargem Grande, Minas Gerais. The tests began by replacing 50% of the coal with biocarbon and gradually increasing up to 100%.

Anthracite coal accounts for approximately 50% of carbon dioxide emissions during pellet production, which was Vale's most carbon-intensive process in terms of direct emissions.

The use of biocarbon at the Vargem Grande pellet plant would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by around 350,000 tons per year, equivalent to the annual emissions of around 75,400 one-liter cars.

More tests of longer duration will be carried out in 2023. Only after this stage is completed, it will be possible to inform the development of the engineering work to bring the project to fruition.