Scaling Storage in Brazil: From Ethanol Injection to Offshore Readiness With a National CCS Law

by Fernando C. Hernandez (Journal of Petroleum Technology) With Brazil enacting South America’s first carbon capture and storage (CCS) law, this article examines the technical and regulatory architecture required to scale CCS deployment and provides exclusive insight into Brazil’s accelerating CCS landscape.

Today, the law, which the Society for Low Carbon Technologies (SFLCT), a US-founded and globally operating nongovernmental organization (NGO), helped shape along with diverse stakeholders, is enabling key carbon capture outcomes: a post-law pilot at a drilled site co-located with an ethanol facility, planning across offshore and onshore areas, and the continent’s first direct air capture (DAC) infrastructure. This article examines the technical and regulatory architecture required to scale deployment and provides exclusive insight into Brazil’s accelerating CCS landscape.

Complementing these initiatives is the work of the NGO’s advisory member Zach Liu, director of subsurface at Harvestone Low Carbon Partners, which facilitated the delivery of the first CCS project at a US ethanol facility in 2023 following the watershed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

The US and Brazil, as the world’s top two ethanol producers, share an evolving ethanol-to-CCS trajectory. Brazil’s sovereign position is reinforced by a live CCS project led by Fueling Sustainability, monitored by ANP, and based on ethanol-derived sequestration without backing from major oil companies. This mirrors the way Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) helped initiate the US ethanol-to-CCS transition—distinct from projects such as Quest (Shell) or Sleipner (Equinor). In 2017, ADM became the first company in the US to inject CO₂ for non-enhanced oil recovery (non-EOR) using a Class VI well permitted by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This pathway reinforces a shared blueprint in which the NGO holds field-proven institutional experience. This parallel between the US and Brazil is not incidental; rather, it serves as a calibrated template to Brazilian market actors, signaling that the ethanol sector offers a ready pathway to scale CCS domestically while reinforcing Brazil’s sovereign direction.

A Growing Differentiator
Petrobras’ $111 billion 2025–29 business plan reinforces Brazil’s decarbonization trajectory, with $16.3 billion allocated to CCS and other low-carbon initiatives, a 42% increase from prior commitments, including early-stage CCS hub development.

A New and Sovereign Frontier
Keeping with the theme of Brazil’s active CCS pilot from an ethanol plant, it is key to note that the project draws on sequestration frameworks from the EPA, the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) 27914 standard, and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), signaling a deliberate shift toward dedicated CO₂ storage. This was publicly demonstrated by Fueling Sustainability at a hybrid workshop hosted by Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy in July.

Canada, which launched the first CCS plant in the Western Hemisphere with the involvement of SFLCT’s Simone, operates under the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) state-level directives rather than a unified federal framework like the EPA—although states such as North Dakota have obtained Class VI primacy. Amid these evolving international CCS frameworks, the SFLCT is supporting Brazil’s regulatory pathway, drawing on global best practices and real-world project experience. This positioning is reinforced by Simone, who brings nearly 2 decades of sequestration execution knowledge and was instrumental in launching Canada’s first CCS project. The NGO’s convening ability; technical neutrality; understanding of measurement, monitoring, and verification programs; and institutional experience with ethanol plants reinforce its grounding in executional realities, especially as Brazil advances ethanol-to-CCS initiatives.

Conclusion
Brazil has entered its next inflection point: translating pilot deployment into regulatory codification. With DAC infrastructure commissioned, ethanol-linked injection underway, and offshore CO₂ capture readiness emerging, the law has entered its implementation phase and now critically awaits regulatory certainty. ANP, as the statutory regulator, in many ways will be central to this transition. SFLCT, drawing on experience with field-tested frameworks (CARB, ISO 27914, EPA Class VI, AER, and other protocols), offers impartial support in Brazil and other nations. The South American nation’s trajectory, grounded in sovereign execution and the technical readiness described here, establishes the foundational architecture for scaling CCS in Brazil and offers a replicable model for other regions. READ MORE