IBP debates the future of the sustainable aviation fuel market
Brazil has the potential to produce up to 9 billion liters of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) per year from the raw material waste available in the country, according to experts in the sector. This volume is enough to meet the annual consumption of the national aviation market, which is around 6 billion liters.
To discuss how to make this production viable, build an efficient regulatory framework and the other challenges for implementing the sustainable aviation fuel market in the country, in line with the desire to decarbonize the economy, the Brazilian Oil and Gas Institute (IBP) held the Workshop “Decarbonization of the Aviation Industry”, on Wednesday (02/21) in Rio de Janeiro. Government representatives, certification bodies, producers, fuel distributors, and airlines attended the meeting.
IBP’s executive director for Downstream, Valéria Lima, stressed the importance of discussing the best way to supply SAF to Brazilian society at this time with all the players in the segment. “This discussion takes place against the backdrop of the Fuel for the Future Bill and it is important to debate the production and regulatory aspects of SAF in this context. To introduce this biofuel in the aviation sector, we need to understand how we are going to develop the market and certify production, in line with international market guidelines,” said Lima. The bill under discussion in Congress contains a different proposal for the aviation sector, the decarbonization mandate, which provides for a minimum yearly percentage reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as of 2027, which can be achieved using SAF or other alternative means according to regulations.
Renato Dutra, the Deputy Secretary for Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels at the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), stressed the Executive Branch’s commitment to developing public policies to make Brazil’s full SAF production potential viable. “In this sense, we have pointed out some key milestones, such as not favoring technological routes, but focusing on emission reduction goals/volumes, as well as the need to create funding and research lines and evaluate the taxation side of the process”.
Marcela Anselmi, environment, and energy transition manager at the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), emphasized the strong international demand as a positive sign for the market. “Regardless of the production in Brazil, the demand for SAF is already there, because the international commitments are already active.” Anselmi also recalled that global decarbonization targets aim for a 5% reduction in CO2 by using SAF.
Fabio Vinhado, Deputy Superintendent of Biofuels and Product Quality at the Brazilian National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), outlined the challenges of regulation and the importance of Renovabio in the context of introducing new advanced biofuels, as well as land use as an important criterion for eligibility in the certification process. “Renovabio already seeks to help the country comply with climate agreements and reduce emissions. In addition, the Fuel for the Future Bill assigns a mission to us at the ANP to establish emission values for each SAF technological route to account for the decarbonization of the QAV”.
Carolina Grassi, public policy manager for the organization Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB), which develops sustainability studies and standards for governments and companies, showed how SAF certification works around the world and the potential of the Brazilian market. “Today we could already add 1 billion liters of SAF. But for that to happen we need a robust certification system, with sustainable criteria and transparent methodologies. It’s also essential to have requirements and mandates that make SAF production more accessible,” concluded Grassi.
Ana Mandelli, IBP’s distribution manager, stressed that the industry has already mastered the technology for producing SAF and the country needs to move forward to supply the fuel to the market and help Brazil meet emission reduction targets. “The SAF debate has no longer been about the technology for years, as we have already mastered it. What we need is to provide the agents with the confidence to produce, commercialize and develop this market”.