Co-author: And Gabriel de Oliveira Teixeira, Economist and Master's Student in Business Administration at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Accounting at the University of São Paulo and Consultant at MarkestratGroup

The way to generate energy in a sustainable way is one of the main discussions nowadays. Measures for the production of electricity and fuels to minimize the impact on the environment and people's health have been taken all over the world and constantly discussed in important international events, such as the Conferences of the Parties promoted annually by the United Nations. In this context, Brazil is certainly one of the most prominent countries.

The production and consumption of ethanol has long been a tradition in our country, since it has been produced on a large scale using sugarcane since the 1970s, when Proálcool was implemented and, since then, it has had a positive and continuous impact on income generation and work for the population, promoting economic development in a unique way. More recently, numerous new opportunities have emerged and promise to take the bioenergy sector to an even higher level through the expansion of new products and technologies.

The National Biofuels Policy, RenovaBio , has been strengthened over the last three years; can be considered an important milestone for the sector with an enormously relevant role in the growth of biofuels, such as biomethane , airplane biokerosene , biodiesel and ethanol itself, which has also gained strength through its production from corn. The increased supply of these products will make the Brazilian energy matrix increasingly sustainable in the coming years.

Research by the Energy Research Company and the International Energy Agency for the year 2022 show that around 45% of energy production in Brazil uses renewable sources. This number is 3 times higher when compared to the rest of the world, which has only 15% of its energy produced from these same sources. With the growth trend of sustainable energy in the country, by the year 2050 the neutrality of Greenhouse Gases emissions should be achieved and bioenergy will have a primordial role in this event.

To get an idea of this impact, biogas, for example, has 98% of its potential still to be explored today, being known as the “ pre-salt hillbilly”.

It can be transformed into biomethane and used in heavy vehicles as a sustainable fuel or burned to generate electricity. It also has the advantage of being a non-intermittent source of energy, that is, it can be generated throughout the year without interruption.

The growth in biomethane production also tends to lead to an increase in the fleet of trucks that use this fuel instead of diesel.

This generates not only a great environmental benefit, but also an economic one, similar to what has happened with the use of biodiesel, since its use reduces Brazil's dependence on fossil fuel, which is largely imported and can have strong variations. of prices according to the exchange rate and the value of a barrel of oil.

In addition, when produced from sugarcane residues, such as vinasse or filter cake, biogas can promote an interesting circular economy model , since the electricity generated and the biomethane can be used in the production of the sugar-energy industry is also to transform residues considered environmental liabilities into energy assets.

Similarly, data from the National Union of Corn Ethanol for the year 2022 show that the production of ethanol from corn is expected to grow sharply in the coming years, reaching 20% of total biofuel production by 2030 . biogas, its industrialization also manages to generate a circular economy model, in which case it can be integrated with sugarcane and livestock, since there is, as a co-product of its production chain, the bioelectricity that can be consumed by the plant itself (or sold) and the dry distillery grains that can be used in animal feed, which, in turn, generates manure that, when treated, serves as fertilizer for corn and for the cane.

Studies show that biomethane and ethanol have the potential to fuel the most environmentally friendly vehicles. it is estimated that a biomethane hybrid car manage to emit 4.5 times less carbon into the atmosphere, when compared to a model similar to gasoline. However, a hybrid car that uses ethanol has the potential to release 3.5 times less carbon dioxide, which generates an incredible reduction in emissions.

Another promising source of energy coming from Brazilian agribusiness is aviation biokerosene , known as BioQav or Sustainable Aviation Fuel . Brazil has the potential to produce the biofuel in such a way that it is possible to replace the entire national demand for rosene by aviation, which currently is 6 billion liters, according to data from the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels.

Aviation is responsible for the emission of 17 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Biokerosene stands out for having synergy with the sugar-energy sector, since ethanol and sugarcane residues can be used as raw materials for its production.

Finally, it is worth remembering that the production of green hydrogen, known as the “fuel of the future”, should attract investments in the coming decades. With an energy capacity three times greater than that of gasoline, hydrogen, in addition to having the potential to replace petroleum derivatives, can be used to produce ammonia and fertilizers derived from it, such as urea and ammonium nitrate, which are currently imported and generate dependency of Brazil in relation to other countries.

The Brazilian opportunities in the area of bioenergy are countless and can grow a lot, since the concern with sustainable development is a global agenda and attracts new national and international investments to our agribusiness products.