尽管马考巴树具有巨大的潜力，但其商业化种植仍面临诸多挑战。这种植物每年只收获一次，且树干和叶子上长满尖刺，使得机械化采收比甘蔗和大豆更加困难，高度依赖人工。为了克服这些难题并降低物流成本，研究人员正在农业园区开发先进的水果分离和油脂提取设备，试图在经济效益上超越传统的生物燃料作物。
该项目的推进部分受到欧洲航空燃料法规的驱动，但也需要克服复杂的土地获取和作物认证等障碍。目前，公司从野外采集果实，并利用人工智能机器人技术辅助种子发芽，同时与研究机构合作，试图通过基因改造培育出更矮、果实更大、产油更多且无刺的马考巴树品种。这一创新尝试有望彻底改变未来的航空燃料供应链。
Brazil is advancing a $3 billion project in Minas Gerais state to plant the macauba palm tree across up to 144,000 hectares of degraded pastureland for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production. Acelen Renováveis, owned by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital, aims to use this plant—which yields seven to ten times more oil per hectare than soybeans—to produce 20,000 barrels of SAF daily at a Bahia biorefinery by 2030, solidifying Brazil's leadership in the global clean energy market.
Despite its immense potential, the commercial cultivation of macauba faces several challenges. The plant yields only one harvest per year, and its thorn-ridden trunks and leaves make mechanized harvesting significantly more difficult than sugarcane and soybeans, relying heavily on manual labor. To overcome these obstacles and reduce logistics costs, researchers are developing advanced fruit separation and oil extraction equipment at an agripark, attempting to beat the economic viability of traditional biofuel crops.
The project is partly driven by European aviation fuel mandates, but it also must navigate complex hurdles related to land acquisition and crop certification. Currently, the company collects wild fruits and uses artificial intelligence and robotics to assist in seed germination, while collaborating with research institutions to genetically modify the trees to be shorter, yield larger and oil-rich fruits, and grow without thorns. This innovative endeavor holds the promise of revolutionizing the aviation fuel supply chain of the future.