The ethanol market is growing strongly in Brazil since the introduction of ″flex-fuel″ vehicles. Use of the new technologies and the continuous evolution of these engines, in combination with changes in marketing behavior, contribute to the consolidation of ethanol as the preferred fuel for the country’s automobile fleet. In the international market too, interest in ethanol is also growing, brought about by its low greenhouse gas emissions and all other characteristics that make it a fuel cleaner than fossil fuel, and perhaps even the only one whose technical and commercial feasibility have been generally proven.

The Brazilian energy matrix, with 46% of renewable sources, nowadays is a reference for the rest of the world. Given the efficiency in the production of ethanol from sugarcane, with evident advantages in relation to production alternatives based on other cultures in other countries, this leading position tends to increase.

As consumption grows, our production capacity follows suit with the demand. New frontiers for sugarcane are opening up in already anthropized regions, consolidating new production areas, at the same time as already traditional areas are also becoming more productive. The northwestern region of the State of São Paulo has been the recent paradigm for using low productivity grazing lands for sugarcane.

Other regions, such as the southwestern triangular region of the State of Minas Gerais, the southern region of the State of Goiás, the northern and southern regions of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul and the southeastern region of the State of Mato Grosso, already qualify, due to the quantity of new projects implemented or being implemented, as new production poles.

The development of these production poles, in increasingly more remote regions, implies the need to overcome long distances to bring the ethanol production to the large consumer centers, as well as to the Brazilian coast, for their destination to international markets. This is an essential condition both for the expansion of the production and of the ethanol market.

Notwithstanding the efforts to make this expansion feasible, we are still faced with major challenges. Growth of production without the corresponding progress in investments in infrastructure is enhancing the dependence of lowly efficient modals for moving high volumes of liquid fuel over long distances, as is the case of transportation by road.

This is aggravated by the poor quality of Brazilian roads, particularly in the country’s interior regions. There are few alternatives, due to the reduced railroad network coverage and the lack of an adequate pipeline network. As has been observed with other commodities such as iron ore, it is becoming a necessary precondition for Brazil to reach the much ambitioned position as a global player to win the challenge of setting up an adequate domestic logistics scheme, replacing the costly and inefficient system of transportation from the production areas to the large markets, by a reliable low cost and sustainable system.

The pipeline solution is currently consolidating itself as the one that best can resolve this demand, whether through the technical-economical advantages or the benefits resulting from reliability, safety and sustainability. It is encouraging to see that currently three pipeline projects proposed by three independent companies, such as those of Brenco/CentroSul Transportadora Dutoviária, PMCC Projetos de Transporte de Álcool, and Uniduto Logística, are proposing to face this challenge.

The result of proposals that have matured since the beginning of this decade and of complex multidisciplinary studies developed over the past ten years, nowadays all of them comply with all three regulatory and project phases necessary to become feasible in the short term as an actual solution for the needs resulting from production growth.

Each of these three projects, according to the presentation made during the Ethanol Summit, seeks to cater to different needs and markets, so that one can actually project the future possibility of developing a logistics network interconnecting the main markets and production regions.

Thus, PMCC prioritizes the mideastern region of the State of Goiás, the triangular region of the State of Minas Gerais and the northeastern region of the State of São Paulo, with exports flowing through Rio de Janeiro and São Sebastião; Uniduto prioritizes the northeastern region of the State of São Paulo, with exports through Guarujá; and Brenco/CentroSul serves the production area in the influence region comprising the southwestern region of the State of Gioás and the northwestern region of the State of São Paulo, with exports flowing through Santos.

All these setups are based on solutions meeting the demand for transportation in the direction of the markets of the greater São Paulo area, apart from the alternative of exporting abroad. Certainly one of the great achievements of the Ethanol Summit was to have placed, for the first time, the three projects in a single panel for perusal by a well-informed audience, representative of the industry’s interests, which included producers of ethanol and oil-derivative products, investors, transporters, logistics operators and fuel distributors, while not having neglected answering any questions about the submitted projects.

During the presentations, it was interesting to note the convergence of the project focuses, mainly as related to the correct and effective approach of environmental and regulatory issues. Currently in the environmental licensing phase, the three pipeline projects show how solutions of low social impact on communities in their sphere of influence are being implemented, replacing heavy traffic and emissions from transportation by truck with a cleaner low energy consumption solution.

Furthermore, they also signal how the proposals warrant economic benefits and social development in regions they influence, in which they surely will contribute to the generation of more jobs and income, fostering the development of ethanol production. As expected, inevitably the audience was curious about the possibility of integrating the projects.

Notwithstanding the fact that each entrepreneur defended the individuality and advantages of his own model, there was no manifestation to suggest the impossibility of any kind of connection among the systems. Quite to the contrary, there were manifestations to the effect that redundancies should be avoided.

The interconnection of pipeline systems and terminals (independent complementary networks) is already a reality in more mature markets, reinforcing the possibility of the system in some way developing to become a project network with some degree of integration. Brazil still has many opportunities to develop a pipeline network.

A simple comparison of our liquid fuel transportation network with that of North America shows expressive development opportunities. We have only about 5,300 kilometers, whereas the United States have more than 146,000 kilometers, with several private companies in operation. Going back to the point that the development of the pipeline system, more than an objective in itself, will be the essential foundation to grow the Brazilian ethanol production and place it in the international market, in a structured manner, at low cost, with high reliability and sustainability, we will better understand the importance of the debate on these development alternatives.

After all, ethanol is a commodity, and, as such, competes predominantly on the basis of cost and guarantee of supply. Replacing fossil products, it also depends on a low emission system to adequately meet the demand for more sustainable products. There are, however, some latent questions that must be answered.

When, exactly, will these systems be available and how much will transportation via pipeline and the operation of new port terminals cost? How do these tariffs compare to alternative transportation modals today and in the future? More important than talking of the projects’ conceptual integration is that they be developed on profitable bases so as to effectively benefit the industry and consumers. These are all good themes for a second round of debates.

Who knows, before that, some welding will already be in progress and some stretches of ethanol pipeline under ground? Producers and consumers will certainly commemorate, and Brazilians will be more confident in the possibility of this kind of fuel reaching its full potential and supplying to our and other markets, contributing to a cleaner and safer world.