Adds statement from National oil and gas institute IBP.
Brazilian regulators have approved an increase in ethanol and biodiesel blending into fossil fuels effective 1 August.
In a meeting of the mines and energy ministry and national energy policy council CNPE today, the government decided to move forward with an increase in ethanol blending rates into gasoline to 30pc to make E30, and to blend 15pc biodiesel into diesel to create B15.
CNPE is evaluating the feasibility of raising ethanol blends to a 22-35pc range and biodiesel blends to a 13-25pc range, mines and energy ministry's biofuels department director Marlon Arraes said during Argus' Biofuels & Feedstocks Latin America Conference, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
National oil and gas institute IBP declared its support for the ethanol and biodiesel blend increases, while asking for more autonomy for hydrocarbons regulator ANP to improve quality monitoring and ensure safety to final consumers.
The fuel of the future program, introduced to the Congress on September 2023, spurred more than R53bn ($9.6bn) of investments in biodiesel to achieve a 25pc mix by 2026, as well as R24bn invested in ethanol to reach a 35pc blend that same year, Arraes said. Investments in carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) through advanced geological techniques reached R140bn, while investments in biomethane and products such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and green diesel reached bring that total up to R260bn.
Cost competitiveness, feedstock supply risks and regulatory instability remain hurdles to a wider biofuel framework in Brazil, he said.
The fuel of the future program avoided 705mn metric tonnes (t) of CO2 equivalent, Arraes said, mostly from CCUS and biodiesel investments. "We need to engage in our way to produce biofuels and sustainable energy to deliver to society the cheapest decarbonization that we can", he added.
