Brazil biofuels investments target diverse feedstocks

Brazil is pushing ahead with advanced biofuels despite a lack of regulations, taking advantage of the country's diverse feedstocks

Brazil is seeing a slow but steady expansion of investments in advanced biofuels, including hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), despite a lack of clear regulations. These investments are based on a broad range of feedstocks, including leftover biomass, palm oil and ethanol, as the sector seeks to take advantage of Brazil's diverse feedstock supply.

The advanced biofuels industry is also building on the existing biofuels industry to reduce costs and speed up output.

"Brazil is making some very important investments in SAF and HVO," according to Marcos Costa, a co-ordinator at German development agency GIZ's Brazil office. GIZ is working to help researchers and project developers take advantage of local resources and feedstocks to produce advanced biofuels. Several projects are using the Fischer-Tropsch technology to produce green fuels that use by-products from existing industrial processes for SAF production, Costa says.

A project in Rio Grande do Norte state will produce SAF from glycerine, which is a co-product of biodiesel production. Another project in Goias state will produce green hydrogen from agricultural waste from a broad range of industries, which can be transformed into renewable fuels, including SAF.

The international biogas centre in Parana state is also developing a project that will produce green hydrogen, which will be combined with biogas to produce synthetic petroleum. "There are infinite possibilities for production," Costa says, adding that each region of Brazil needs to exploit its local characteristics to meet future demand. This will allow SAF production across the country.

Costa expects a convergence between biofuels production and output of advanced biofuels.

This is the model being adopted by Brazilian palm oil producer Brasil Biofuels, which last year announced the construction of a biorefinery in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state. The plant is scheduled to begin HVO and SAF production at the end of 2025. The project, which will require investments of roughly 2bn reals ($400mn), will produce 500mn litres/yr of HVO and SAF. The plant will use palm oil from trees planted on degraded land as feedstock. The company has roughly 75,000 hectares of palm plantations in the Amazon biome, and already produces roughly 200,000 t/yr of palm oil.

Geo Biogas last year announced an investment in a pilot plant to produce 500 litres/d of SAF from biogas, located in Maringa, Parana state. The plant uses the leftover industrial waste from a sugar and ethanol plant in the region. The production route has the advantage of an unused co-product as feedstock, which lowers costs and does not compete with food markets.

Second-generation ethanol

Brazilian sugar and ethanol producers are also exploring the use of second-generation ethanol — which is produced from the leftover biomass from the milling process — to produce SAF.

Domestic group Raizen teamed up with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer last year to develop SAF. Raizen also has an agreement with state-controlled Petrobras to study partnerships in used biomethane as a feedstock for SAF.

Brazilian advanced biofuels producer Granbio has begun investments to double its production of second-generation ethanol by 2024, with a share of the new output potentially going to produce SAF. Granbio, in partnership with Indian biotechnology firm Birla Carbon, is also completing construction of a pilot plant in the US located at Thomaston, Georgia, which will produce SAF from second-generation ethanol.