At meeting of G20 energy ministers, experts highlight Latin America’s role in global decarbonization through biofuels

Foz do Iguaçu, 14 October 2024 (IICA). At a meeting of G20 energy ministers in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, businesspeople, industry representatives, leaders of chambers of commerce, regulators and senior public officials from the Americas underlined the region’s enormous potential to further develop liquid biofuels and help mitigate climate change.
 
At the event, participants debated the role of biofuels in the decarbonization of transport, and discussed recently enacted legislation, the impact of bioenergy on health and the environment, and the outlook for the automotive industry. A public-private sector roundtable also took place with representatives from the Americas, Japan and Indonesia, to share experiences in light of Asia’s growing interest in biofuels as a tool for decarbonization.
 
The activity was organized by the Association of Latin American Sugar Producers (UNALA), the Pan-American Liquid Biofuels Coalition (CPBIO) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), with support from a number of Brazilian organizations (the Sugarcane and Bioenergy Industry Association (UNICA), the Association of Biofuel Producers of Brazil (APROBIO) and the National Association of Corn Ethanol Producers (UNEM)) and the Toyota corporation.
 
The meeting made it possible to introduce the issue of biofuels as a key element of the energy transition, within the framework of the G20, regarded as the largest global forum for international cooperation, whose Summit of Heads of State and Government will be held on November 18 and 19 in Rio de Janeiro. The G20 is a grouping of the world’s largest economies and is chaired this year by Brazil.
 
The speakers at the dialogue included Pietro Adamo Sampaio Mendes, Secretary for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels of Brazil; Rafael Chang Miyasaki, Toyota regional CEO for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC); Marcela Braga Anselmi, Manager of Environment and Energy Transition at Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC); Wesley Montero, from Platts; Evandro Gussi, from UNICA; Guillherme Nolasco, from UNEM; and Julio Minelli, from APROBIO.
 
Federico Pinedo, Argentina’s Sherpa to the G20, members of the diplomatic corps, and representatives of business chambers and civil society also took part.
 
A solution for each region
 
Toyota’s CEO for LAC explained that the automotive company is working to decarbonize the transportation sector by promoting the sustainable use of liquid biofuels within the region and across the globe. At the end of the event, the company exhibited three vehicles that are already being sold in Brazil with technologies that make it possible to use ethanol as the sole fuel, or in combination with electricity.
 
“We need to tackle climate change and Toyota has already started. We have reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 176 million tons since 1997. Our enemy is fossil fuels, and what fuels can take their place? The answer is different for each region because the conditions are different: the roads, climate, type of user, and even drivers’ behavior. We realized that our commitment must be to offer a range of options, and there are many paths to carbon neutrality,” Chang Miyasaki remarked.
 
The executive was of the opinion that Latin America has great comparative advantages for combining technologies, and that the growing use of biofuels is practical, accessible and sustainable.
 
Chang added that electrification may be a good solution for other regions, but not for Latin America. “To imagine that in our region we’re going to have charging stations available for everyone is not very realistic. In a city like Madrid where distances are short, electrification is a solution, but in other places it isn’t. Our vision is to promote a combination of several technologies; even in the northern hemisphere we’re seeing a decline in electrification of transport in terms of both demand and public policies,” he said.
 
Marcela Braga de Anselmi gave details of the progress Brazil is making with sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).
 
“Our region has a great opportunity in the case of SAF, due to the availability of biomass with the potential to be certified as sustainable. In Brazil, we have a long tradition of biofuel production dating back to the 1970s, but aviation is more complex. The demand has to be stable,  and airlines have an obligation to undertake an energy transition, but without triggering price rises that would reduce air travel in our countries,” the ANAC specialist remarked.
 
She also explained the positive implications for the development of SAF of “Fuel of the Future Act” recently approved by Brazil’s Parliament, and the national SAF policy that provides federal resources to finance research into raw materials and technological pathways.
 
“The big challenge in Brazil right now is to attract private investment in this area,” added Evandro Gussi, President and CEO of UNICA, who praised IICA’s ability to bring together all the stakeholders.
 
“If our goal is to cut emissions, we have to harness everything available. We understand that bioenergy is not the solution for everything, but it is a ready-made solution, with affordable costs and technology that has already been developed,” he continued.
 
According to Gussi, it is possible to reduce emissions by up to 90% with sugarcane ethanol. “We have a robust industry with technology that can be shared, especially with countries with tropical conditions. In Brazil, more than two million people work in the sector, directly or indirectly. This is not only an environmental revolution, but also a social and economic one,” he emphasized.
 
UNEM’s Guillherme Nolasco said the corn ethanol sector is becoming established in Brazil, and there is a large chain of businesses thanks to the virtuous circle of food, energy and biomass production. “The production of biofuels for our countries is a way to meet the obligations of the energy transition, and also to motivate rural dwellers to remain in the countryside, attract investment and create employment, which is the best way to lift people out of poverty,” he argued.
 
Brazil currently processes 18 million tons of corn to produce bioethanol and food by-products, especially high-protein distillers grains.
 
Julio Minelli, from APROBIO, underlined that biofuels should be seen as energy and a chain that adds value. “When we see cities in the interior where new jobs are being created, it’s clear that it’s a development opportunity for cities,” he said, given that the industry plays a social role, because a distinctive characteristic of Brazilian biodiesel is that about 30% of the raw material is produced by family farmers.
 
“Thanks to contracts with industrial-scale operations, family farmers have a guaranteed outlet for their production, and technical assistance is provided to improve productivity and inclusion across the economy,” he concluded.

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int