Brazil’s Biofuel Program Sputters on Weak Emissions Accounting

Brazil, Feedstocks, Field/Orchard/Plantation Crops/Residues, Marketing/Market Forces and Sales, Opinions, Policy, Sustainability

September 8, 2021

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by Sibélia Zanon (Mongabay; Translated by Maya Johnson) • The RenovaBio program has been encouraging biofuel producers in Brazil to emit less carbon dioxide since the end of 2019.

The program survived a rocky first year brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and volatility in the carbon credit market, but still has some weaknesses that must be addressed, experts say.
For one thing, the program doesn’t account for emissions from land use and indirect deforestation, which are significant factors in the production of soybeans, from which 70% of Brazil’s biodiesel is derived.
While Brazil is investing heavily in biofuels as an energy solution, a new report by the International Energy Agency suggests that by 2050, half of emission cuts should come from experimental technologies like advanced batteries for electric vehicles and hydrogen production systems.

Since it launched in December 2019, the RenovaBio program from Brazil’s energy ministry has been betting on increased use of biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to establishing decarbonization targets for fossil fuel distributors, the program offers incentives for biofuel producers to improve the conditions and efficiency of their production chains.

To be able to take part in the program, producers of ethanol, biodiesel, biokerosene or biogas are evaluated according to the carbon absorption and emission levels in their various production stages.

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Each CBIO under the RenovaBio program is equivalent to 1 metric ton of avoided emissions. Distributors can purchase CBIOs on the stock market to meet their decarbonization targets.

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Indirect effects are more difficult to measure, which is the case with indirect deforestation. Brazil’s sugarcane industry, the world’s biggest, has undergone a crisis over the past decade, causing mills to close and meaning there’s currently less pressure to expand plantation area. It’s a different story with soybeans, however, which account for 70% of Brazil’s biodiesel composition. For example, when old cattle pasture that has already been deforested is bought up for planting soybean, there is no way to guarantee that new pasture will not be created in another region to replace it. This displacement generates indirect carbon emissions.

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Difficulty in tracking the product is another point of concern.

“In order to generate the CBIO, I have to identify the origin of the soybean and this is complicated by the fact that the soybean trade has many intermediaries,” said Carmen Araujo, director of the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) in Brazil. “The product is stored, and those who buy it for processing get soybean that has been gathered from a number of sources. So you lose traceability. This is an important point for improving the mechanism.”

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A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) says that to be able to eliminate GHG emissions by 2050, the use of fossil fuels should be cut back from the current four-fifths of the global energy mix that it composes today, to one-fifth by the year 2050.

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Martin (Marcel Martin, transportation coordinator at the Instituto Climate Sociedade (Climate and Society Institute, or ICS)) said it’s important to evaluate the best way to use biofuels — for cargo vehicles, boats and planes — as well as to make advances in research into fuel cells and other alternative technologies. He also pointed to the evolution of second- and third-generation biofuels — those that don’t rely on growing a crop for the sole use of turning it into energy — and investments in electric and hydrogen platforms.

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