For years we have heard more and more about climate change and the urgency with which nations must adopt effective measures to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change, which impact the environment, the economy, people's health and society in a major way. general.

One of the paths is the decarbonization of transport through the gradual replacement of fossil fuels.

I was appointed rapporteur for Bill 4516 of 2023, which creates the Fuel of the Future Program, reaffirming Brazil's commitment to reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions. The objective of the proposal is to accelerate our transition to low-carbon mobility.

Among the program's actions are the increase in the mixture of ethanol in gasoline, from 27.5% to 30%; encouraging the production and use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel and Green Diesel; and the regulation of Synthetic Fuels.

In fact, the word transition does not apply well to Brazil. Unlike the rest of the world, whose energy matrix is predominantly fossil, Brazil has invested, since the 1970s, in increasing the share of renewable sources in its matrix. An effort that led us to an enviable 48.4% of clean energy compared to just 15% of the global average.

In the transport sector, for example, almost 50% of gasoline sold in the country is replaced by ethanol, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions by up to 90% when compared to fossil fuel. With the biodiesel program, we stopped consuming 47 billion liters of diesel, avoiding the emission of 82 million tons of carbon dioxide. Therefore, instead of energy transition, the correct term for Brazil would be “consolidation of the renewability of our matrix”.

However, this process poses at least two major challenges. One of a technological nature, given that the addition of Sustainable Aviation Fuel to aviation kerosene, Green Diesel to fossil diesel and the increase in the mixture of ethanol with gasoline will require improvements to internal combustion engines and, consequently, investment in technological innovation. Therefore, it is important for the program to be discussed with automotive equipment manufacturers, especially the National Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers.

Another challenge is economic in nature, as the addition of biofuels cannot impact the price of fuel sold in the country. In the case of Ethanol, for example, the program authorizes an increase in the mixture, but setting this percentage is the responsibility of the National Energy Policy Council, which does so in a gradual and transparent manner, always making production and demand compatible. Furthermore, the supply of Ethanol can be expanded from corn, which already accounts for 20% of national biofuel production.

The Fuel of the Future Program will further increase the use of low-carbon fuels in Brazil. Airlines will be obliged to gradually reduce carbon dioxide emissions by mixing Sustainable Aviation Fuel with aviation kerosene. This obligation aligns us with the international airline sector's commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2050. Commercial aviation alone is responsible for 3% of global Greenhouse Gas emissions.

In the transport of heavy loads, trucks, buses and agricultural machinery, Green Diesel will be added to biodiesel, already produced in Brazil since 2006, to further reduce emissions from the sector, considered difficult to electrify. In addition to decarbonizing, the adoption of Green Diesel will contribute to reducing external dependence on fossil diesel.

Another initiative that will help the country consolidate its vocation for the production of renewable energy is the Low Carbon Hydrogen Legal Framework, which is being prepared by the Special Commission for Energy Transition and Green Hydrogen Production, of which I am president.

I highlight, for example, the virtuosity of renewable sources, wind and solar, in the production of hydrogen through electrolysis, especially in the Brazilian Northeast. Brazil has competitive and comparative advantages to compete in the international market. But we cannot forget the potential for producing hydrogen from biomass, mainly using waste from the sugar-energy industry, whose production cost has proven to be more competitive when compared to other technological routes.

Certainly, we can produce hydrogen for export, the European Union will be a large consumer, but hydrogen needs to be used in the decarbonization of our production processes, the so-called neo-industrialization. A process that will require effort from the production sector and much more investment.

Therefore, I presented Bill 5174 of 2023, which establishes the Energy Transition Acceleration Program. Prepared based on the contribution of several economists and scholars in the infrastructure sector, the program could be a lever for investments in a fundamental segment for national development.

Brazil can be at the forefront of the new economy, the green economy and the low-carbon economy. Through tax credits and financial transactions, this project will be able to anticipate investments on a much faster scale, with a strong impact on economic activity.