Desafios e oportunidades para a exportação dos biocombustíveis brasileiros

Abstract

Brazil is considered one of the biggest biofuel producers in the world. There is a big potential for increasing this market due to global interest in renewable energy. However, there is concern over various aspects of sustainability in the production of biofuels, such as: environmental, social and economic impacts; workers conditions; impact on flora and fauna and impact on global food production, amongst others. Therefore, it was observed that there are countries establishing regulations/standards to evaluate the production of these products. This paper intends to study the Brazilian ethanol and biodiesel situation, looking to identify the problems arising from this industry. The main criteria surrounding these regulations for current certification were identified. The second step was to evaluate the situation between ethanol and biodiesel in Brazil pursuant to these regulations and obtaining a table summarizing the sector. When they were compared, it was observed that there were greater opportunities in the external markets for biodiesel but the investments are bigger in ethanol productive chain. Finally, it was concluded that the application of a certification methodology for bio-combustibles in Brazil can bring advantages to the production chain, ensuring sustainability for the industry.