Brazil shares 50 years of success of the Proálcool program for global decarbonization.

CGEE consultant, Professor Luiz Horta, celebrates the Proálcool program and points to bioenergy as the most promising energy source for modern society, with advancements that combine sustainability, economy, and environmental protection.

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Professor Luiz Horta's participation during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Alcohol Program (Proálcool) presented results from years of Brazilian experience in this area of bioenergy that can be shared with several other countries through technical cooperation and capacity building. The event, 'Proalcohol 50 years and beyond', was held last Monday (22), at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London, in London, and brought together Brazilian and foreign researchers.

The series of actions and policies that established the mandatory use of ethanol began in Brazil in 1931. In his speech, Horta addressed not only the milestone of five decades of the Proálcool program, but also what preceded it and its implementation possibilities: “The introduction of alcohol and gasoline blends has been around for almost 100 years, with very interesting results. This long experience was the result of a series of conditions that led Brazil to adopt it, and one of my objectives is to analyze whether these conditions also exist in other countries.”

The past 50 years have brought about significant environmental, economic, and sustainable advancements. The use of over 640 billion liters of gasoline has been replaced by bioethanol. This energy shift has impacted the reduction of expenses related to the import of this input, resulting in savings of over R$ 725 billion. The results have also impacted greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with a reduction of approximately 1.36 billion tons of CO2.

“It’s a significant volume, a truly large contribution to mitigating climate change, which interests us so much and is so relevant to global society. We also have an effect from generating electricity using sugarcane bagasse, a residue from alcohol production, which, after hydroelectricity, is the main form of renewable energy used to produce electricity in Brazil,” Horta explains.

The professor also discussed the expected future of mobility. With Proálcool, Brazil was able to solve internal problems, promote development, and offer the planet a desirable solution. Due to the global energy transition, the expansion of renewable energies is notable, especially in electricity generation, but there is still a great dependence on the use of petroleum in the transportation of goods and people.

Horta believes that electricity has not yet fully expanded. He believes that perhaps one of the smartest ways to use electricity would be to combine it with the use of biofuels, which are renewable and have a low environmental impact. "There is a growing expectation that these fuels, produced with high environmental efficiency and sustainability, will be the most attractive energy source for modern society," he states.

The program has consolidated ethanol as an essential renewable fuel, which today represents about 50% of consumption in light vehicles in Brazil. This result is largely due to the efficient genetic improvement programs for sugarcane and the recent diversification of raw materials used. In the presentation, the professor highlighted the improvement of techniques, with environmental adaptation and application in the agricultural, industrial and automotive sectors, and that, considering the primary energies involved, there is no passenger transport technology that is more efficient in terms of emission reduction and efficiency.

Knowledge in the area of biofuel production.

Brazil has developed a significant knowledge base in the area of bioethanol and biofuel production, particularly in biomass conversion. The national effort in knowledge development should also cooperate with the fuel and automotive marketing sector to promote the advantages of ethanol. However, Horta emphasizes that the most important aspect is the articulation of this knowledge with the state, for the development of public policies. "There are many prejudices and a lack of understanding. It is very important that the State establishes plans, goals, usage mandates, and disseminates these technologies, ensuring that they do not cause problems," he said.

At the event, the executive summary released in 2024 for policy formulation, "Bioethanol: Fast Track to Mobility Decarbonization," was used as an example reinforcing the global need for technology, public policies, experience, and knowledge to adequately expand the production and distribution of biofuels. The professor is the lead author of this publication, which was coordinated by the Center for Management and Strategic Studies (CGEE), in partnership with the National Bank for Sustainable Development (BNDES). The document addresses how most GHG emissions come from road transport, making the decarbonization of the sector one of the main challenges on the environmental agenda.