To talk about the sugarcane culture in Brazil, we have to remember when, in 1532, Martim Afonso de Souza brought, in the hold of one of the ships he commanded, the first cane seedlings to São Vicente, where he unloaded the first voyage and I would never have imagined that I would be starting a cycle that would transform Brazil into the world's largest sugarcane producer and that only the state of São Paulo would have a larger crop than India, the second largest producer.

This plant that, in a very distant past, was considered ornamental, has become the largest and most complete energy crop on the planet. She went through several trials, being the villain of judges, prosecutors, ill-informed environmentalists, etc., until she had her recognition by technicians, scientists and scholars as a producer of clean energy.

Brought to Brazil just to produce sugar and sweeten different tastes, it has become a clean and renewable “energy bank”. Its very difficult genetics associated with major technological advances made sugarcane a raw material for biofuel that is admittedly advanced and, with the creation of the National Alcohol Program in the 1970s, it gained advances, including the famous “rooster’s tail”, mixture of anhydrous gasoline replacing tetraethyl lead, until reaching the flex-fuel car in the 2000s.

Very recently, renowned researchers in this sector are taking a giant step, producing green hydrogen from ethanol and moving vehicles in a stupidly clean way, putting the electric car to the marginality of models, as most of the energy produced in Europe, China, Canada, the United States, the Middle East and others is of fossil or atomic origin, emitting greenhouse gases even before connecting the vehicle to the electrical outlet.

The global society's commitment to reducing emissions associated with the energy crisis in Europe and around the world requires clean sources, and sugarcane is undoubtedly one of them. In this line of biofuels and renewables, we also have biomethane, through the transformation of vinasse, being another clean fuel to replace part of the fossil diesel.

Second-generation ethanol, whose technology has been improved and seeking to reduce production costs, is undoubtedly an alternative that will increase ethanol production per planted area of sugarcane. In this biorefinery where electricity is produced from biomass, biofuels and food from broth, we cannot forget about the production of yeasts for human and animal consumption and the famous cachaça, among many other products, as we see in the highlighted table (not I mention the author, as I have not been able to identify him). From bagasse, we have the forage to complement animal feed, pelleted bagasse , and we still partially use the cane straw, either through baling in the field or as whole cane and separation in the industry.

More recently, we are seeing the genetic growth of energy cane, which has emerged as an advanced option for the sector, both in energy and biofuels. From the gate to the inside, we generate thousands of jobs, income, development and technologies linked to social and environmental commitments. The sector's biofuels program is a global benchmark that many countries would like to have or copy. Brazil, with continental territorial characteristics, climate, light, soil and favorable logistics, was “awarded”, as this program requires extensive areas, although sugarcane cultivation occupies only 9.5 million hectares, just over 1.4% of the area with existing agriculture in the country today.

From the gates to the outside, we are giants and large customers of agricultural inputs, such as fertilizers, correctives, pesticides, biological products, etc. In the manufacturing industry and automakers, Personal Protective Equipment, tools, vehicles, machines, harvesters, trucks and the most varied and sophisticated agricultural equipment.

The sector is present in all gas station networks and related automotive maintenance agencies. In technology, we went from the machete, passing through Information Technology, satellite, GPS, autopilot and we currently use drones for data control, distribution of inputs and pest control.

Research and development entities are closely linked to the sector, and the search for new varieties of more productive sugarcane combined with the most varied techniques is a constant in the sector, as well as the constant exchange of information and technologies in events and technical meetings. Brazil is very present in the global decarbonization process , ahead of the countries that demand results from us, and occupies a privileged place; the sugarcane complex is part of this context and currently represents 19% of renewable energy in Brazil.