The global airline sector, emitting approximately 900 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, or 2% of all emissions generated by human activity, has committed to zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. To achieve this ambitious goal, The segment is committed to replacing aviation kerosene, currently responsible for around 40% of the cost of airline operations, with sustainable aviation fuels.

Worldwide, companies in the segment seek to reduce production costs and increase the availability of raw materials for the manufacture of sustainable aviation fuels. In this global race, Brazil can start with a considerable advantage due to two primary factors: the abundance of agricultural inputs and the technological expertise consolidated almost half a century ago with the production and use of biofuels for the automotive industry. As in the past, these differences could once again represent a competitive advantage in the medium and long term. In this way, the country can promote a new green revolution in transport, now in the airline sector.

Given Brazil's leadership in the use of ethanol, a question arises: will Brazil be a mere supplier of raw materials or a producer of sustainable aviation fuels? Here, it is considered that the country has all the conditions to become a major player in this market, delivering the final product with the appropriate added value. It is an opportunity that cannot be missed, especially considering Brazil's potential in agricultural production, especially in sugar cane, soybeans, corn and beef tallow.

The national production sector is prepared to meet demand and offer sustainable aviation fuels in a competitive manner. This, without harm to food production and, simultaneously, adding value to the national product. The Brazilian sugar-energy sector has demonstrated this since the 1970s, when Proálcool was launched and, a few years later, when producing the first ethanol-powered cars on a commercial scale.

Starting in 2003, with the start of production of flex-fuel vehicles, Brazil surprised us again, reaching, today, the globally unprecedented percentage of 80% of the fleet of light vehicles in circulation equipped with a flex-fuel engine. Furthermore, the mixture of anhydrous ethanol in gasoline has gradually advanced.

Today it reaches 27% and has good prospects of increasing even further. Ethanol, now also increased by the product made from corn, has an extensive distribution infrastructure, consolidated in more than 42 thousand gas stations. This logistical base boosted the development in Brazil of the world's first flex hybrid car, the Toyota Corolla, launched in 2019. The same technology is already in the plans of other automakers such as Renault, Volkswagen and Stellantis, which bring together brands such as Fiat, Jeep, Peugeot and Citroën.

Added to this scenario is the use of sugarcane bagasse to produce second-generation ethanol, which does not require the expansion of agricultural frontiers, and bioelectricity. In the latter case, data from the Electricity Trading Chamber indicate that, in 2023, the volume produced by sugarcane plants was equivalent to 22% of the energy generation by the Itaipu Plant.

For Brazil to repeat this successful experience and take off towards sustainable aviation fuels, three fundamental measures must be added to the practice: regulation, standardization of sustainable aviation fuels and attraction of investments.

The first step is underway with the Fuel of the Future Project, currently being processed in the Chamber of Deputies. The regulation of this initiative, which essentially deals with the energy transition, will be of fundamental importance for investments in the production of ethanol, biodiesel, biogas, biomethane and, of course, sustainable aviation fuels.

With a defined long-term policy, it will be necessary to ensure that the conditions for using sustainable aviation fuels meet international technical standards, without harm to airlines and their users. Thus, a plane fueled in Brazil will be able to operate in other parts of the world without any hindrance.

Finally, incentives and financing lines are necessary, even initially, to leverage investments in industrial plants aimed at manufacturing sustainable aviation fuels. In the United States, there are already subsidies to encourage the production of these new biofuels. This is a way of reducing the production cost, which for sustainable aviation fuels today can be up to four times higher when compared to fossil aviation kerosene. With greater scale, the production costs of sustainable aviation fuels will naturally be reduced.

According to a survey by SCA Ethanol do Brasil, there are 15 commercial sustainable aviation fuel plants in operation in the world, located in Spain (four), United States (two), Italy (two), Finland, Singapore, Austria, China, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. This survey points to 43 airlines already committed to using around 16 billion liters of sustainable aviation fuels in their operations by 2030. Out of a global production of 390 billion liters of aviation kerosene, only 14 million liters are sustainable fuels aviation, according to the study “Availability of Raw Material for Aviation Fuel in Brazil”, published by Agroícone.

In Brazil's immense potential for the production of sustainable aviation fuels, thanks to the wide availability of agricultural raw materials, the highlight is sugar cane, to date Brazil's greatest asset in leveraging the manufacture of biofuel with a smaller footprint. of carbon. From an environmental point of view, sugarcane ethanol is the most efficient source in terms of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. In the United States, the largest producer of ethanol in the world, whose source is corn, the manufacture of sustainable aviation fuels obtained from cornfields presents a higher level of emissions compared to the product that comes from sugarcane.

To provide a historical review of the pioneering use of biofuels in aviation in Brazil: for 20 years, the Ipanema agricultural plane, manufactured by Embraer, has been flying with hydrated ethanol. In commercial aviation, in 2012, Azul carried out a flight using 50% fuel produced from sugarcane. In 2013, a Gol jet departed from São Paulo to Brasília with a mixture of 25% corn oil and residual fats. In 2014, again, Gol established the first fixed route using up to 10% sugarcane biokerosene in aviation kerosene, between Recife and Fernando de Noronha. There was a 30% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions on each trip.

Around the world, since 2008 companies such as United Airlines, Japan Airlines, KLM, Atlantic Airways, Air New Zealand and Continental Airlines They also used aviation biokerosene and other fuels from renewable sources. Such experiences were not limited to good results in commercial and agricultural aviation. In 2010, a United States Air Force supersonic jet flew on a 50% biofuel blend.

Brazil is mature enough to innovate and advance in the production of sustainable aviation fuels, and may include biofuels for aviation in the flight plan. The country has abundant raw materials, academic competence, and a structured and competitive agroindustry. All factors, therefore, to change the future.