A great technological leap, but, above all, a social evolution, increasingly valuing our greatest asset, human capital.

Transformation is one of the key words for us, who migrated from small and cramped pinga mills to industrial parks where food, energy and ethanol are produced, the fuel of the future, with the potential to elevate our country to international protagonism in this period of energy transition, low-carbon economy and environmental sustainability.

Recent indicators point to the existence of around 370 installed mills in Brazil, grinding approximately 658 million tons of sugarcane, which places Brazil in 2nd place in the production of ethanol and in 1st place in the production of sugar, on a global scale.

In financial terms, the Gross Domestic Product of the sugar-energy chain is approximately 2% of the national one, with more than 1,000 municipalities participating in its activities and generating more than 700,000 direct formal job openings.

In addition to these aspects, it is worth mentioning that our sector produces approximately 5% of the electricity consumed in the country (about 22.6 terawatt hours).

It is important to remember that, around 23 years ago, when we took the first steps in energy cogeneration, few believed in our potential. And, for some, we were considered “crazy” for investing in this segment. Currently, we can state without a shadow of a doubt that, if we still do not figure as the largest source of energy sales, it is because there are still major bureaucratic obstacles with regard to distribution. It is worth mentioning that our sector has the conditions to invest even more and our industry also has the conditions in place to supply more, thanks to the high level of efficiency we are achieving.

Our numbers indicate that the bioenergy chain is vital in the composition of the country's agro-industrial chain, and, consequently, in the Brazilian economy.

We have gone through several changes in the last few decades. Today we are experiencing practically three generations of major transformations in the plants, which have learned to develop in an increasingly sustainable way, which is our great differential in relation to the rest of the world.

When we analyze, for example, the European Union, which has many industries that compete with us in the production of sugar, we see that these countries use gas, which is polluting. Our production, however, does not pollute; she is clean.

We use bagasse. Brazil takes the lead because here we managed to close the entire cycle, throughout the production chain. This is our great asset, our differential in relation to the rest of the world: the practical use of the circular economy.

In terms of urban mobility, when they try to push the electric car “down our throats”, they do not take into account that, in the complete production cycle, the so-called “from well to wheel”, vehicles powered exclusively by ethanol or hybrids (ethanol and electric) are much less polluting than the alternatives available on the market. Not to mention the investments that will be necessary to set up a structure to supply electric vehicles, and, in the case of ethanol, this entire structure is already geographically installed and available throughout our vast Nation.

Remembering that all this potential does not only refer to the issue of ethanol. The sector, as a whole, has a very wide range of possibilities and investment opportunities and an infinity of markets to be reached with biogas and biomethane, which can replace diesel. Finally, there are the most diverse opportunities, which are still in an embryonic stage, with great chances of being very well explored.

We also have second-generation ethanol, with which we have the possibility of doubling our production, without it being necessary to increase a millimeter of planted area, since the raw material is the residue used in the manufacture of ethanol that has already been produced.

We have new applications for the aviation industry, such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel, in which ethanol is presented as one of the most viable alternatives on the market, remembering that, according to specialists in the sector, the aviation market is 20 times larger than the vehicular mobility industry.

And it is important to point out that all of this has been achieved thanks to technological advances, but, above all, by valuing our workforce in the countryside. The advances in the social aspect are undeniable. Our worker today is much more prepared and qualified to deal with the technological innovations that are emerging.

The machete was left aside and, today, the field man operates modern equipment and machines, with digital resources, using software and other technologies, which place the farmer as one of the forerunners of industry 4.0, in which technological innovations allow optimizing the decision-making in real time, an increasingly constant concern in the sector, which lives under constant pressure to maximize production and minimize costs, without losing the sustainability metric.

According to the Brazilian Precision Agriculture Commission, 67% of rural properties in the country have already adopted some type of technological innovation. Another survey, carried out in 2020, in a partnership between Embrapa, Sebrae and the National Institute for Space Research, revealed that 84% of farmers in the country already use at least one digital technology as a support tool.

The modern machines provide a better use of harvest windows, whether in planting or harvesting, improving productivity and high precision in sugarcane fields, in which each harvesting machine fitted with these new technologies provides quick, if not immediate, responses within the field.

All this technology has contributed to adding and transforming the rural scenario and the life of the rural man. Through our ongoing training programs, our workers are currently more qualified and far ahead of other segments.

This is so true that we host, in our country, Fenasucro and Agrocana , considered the largest fair in the sector in the world. It is a great reference in the presentation of new equipment and in the exhibition of the most modern technology to be applied in the sector.

We can therefore safely conclude that the future of the Brazilian sugar-energy sector is promising. We have the potential to grow even more, driven by the increased demand for renewable energy and the development of new technologies. The sugar-energy sector has the potential to continue to be an important driver of the Brazilian economy and to contribute to the country's sustainable development.

Throughout this period of transformations, the evolution even reached the denomination of the sector. When we started, back there, we were sugar and alcohol producers. We migrated to sugar-energy and now we are bio-energy. But for now, because hydrogen is coming, and I don't even know what we're going to be called.