Brazil is considered one of the most globally relevant countries in the fight against climate change, due to its energy matrix being made up of more than 85% of energy from renewable sources. Furthermore, it positively aligns with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, which cover different themes, related to environmental and social aspects, aiming at the 2030 Agenda, coordinated by the United Nations, through the United Nations Program for Development.

In 1975, the National Alcohol Program, Proálcool, was created, a joint initiative between car manufacturers, government and academics, resulting in what would later be considered the largest program dedicated to encouraging renewable biofuels in the world. Although extinguished years later, already consolidated, this program led to the intensification of ethanol production, a fuel of primary importance for the decarbonization of transport. The benefits of Proálcool were permanent: improved environmental conditions and greater flexibility in sugar production. The program also played a significant role in creating millions of jobs and maintaining the wage bill.

In 2016, the Ministry of Mines and Energy launched RenovaBio, which aimed to expand biofuel production to generate environmental, economic and social sustainability, basic concepts of environmental, social and corporate governance. Such government measures supported the production of alternative, environmentally friendly fuels.

A robust grain harvest is expected in 2023, around 310 million tons, 17% higher than in 2022. The sugar cane harvest (2023 2024) will have around 630 million tons to be crushed, with the observation, from now on, of excellent productivity. These volumes have long led us to an important role in the global energy transition, in a primarily sustainable way.

In addition to feeding our population and around a billion people around the world, the byproducts of grains and sugar cane allow us to generate disruptive renewable energy, particularly through green hydrogen, the new Brazilian energy frontier.

Ethanol will play a crucial role in the electrolysis of hydrogen, the development of which will be led by wind and solar energy, which are gaining increasing participation in our energy matrix. Just as grains have already contributed to the generation of biofuels, we have reached the rapid development experienced by biomass and battery systems.

The production of hydrogen, in its various forms, is already becoming a reality in some of the main national ports, such as Pecém, Suape, Açu and Santos, whose hydrogen will also be used to supply our industries. Furthermore, an electrolyser factory will soon be opened in Bahia to contribute to the necessary development of the sector.

The Brazilian railway industry is also involved in this context. In 2020, one of the national locomotive manufacturers delivered, on the domestic market, the first 100% battery-powered shunting locomotive that has already been exported to the United States. This and another national manufacturer have been conducting tests in California with hybrid, line-of-line, hydrogen fuel cell locomotives.

National passenger train manufacturers are bringing technology from their headquarters to replicate in Brazil the success of Regional Trains in Europe and Light Rail Vehicles in South Korea, powered by hydrogen.

Even the traction wagon can contribute 3.5% energy efficiency by reducing the drag coefficient, through improving its aerodynamics, proven by wind tunnel tests.

I am certain that these opportunities, and others that will arise, will enable Brazil to consolidate, in the short and medium term, its strategic position as a global producer and supplier of renewable energy, leveraging the entire production chain of this promising sector.