7 mins read
Published Jan 19, 2026
The Role of Biofuels as a Central Instrument of Brazilian Climate Policy
Brazil has pledged to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with stepped targets along the way. Under its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), Brazil aims to cut net emissions 59–67% by 2035 compared to 2005 levels, an increase in ambition over prior 2030 targets.
In absolute terms this means eliminating on the order of 850 million to 1 billion tonnes of CO₂-equivalent by 2035. These climate goals cover all sectors, but it’s notable that deforestation remains Brazil’s largest emissions source.
Land-use change (primarily Amazon and Cerrado deforestation) has historically dwarfed energy and transport emissions. As a result, Brazil’s climate strategy gives similar weight to curbing deforestation and transforming its energy and transport systems.
Within the energy sector, transport accounts for only about 13% of Brazil’s total greenhouse emissions, a relatively modest share by global standards.
Transport, however, is the largest source of energy-related CO₂ in Brazil. Road and rail fuel use contributed roughly 200 million tonnes of CO₂ in 2021. Decarbonising transport is therefore still essential for Brazil to hit its NDC.
The key question is: which parts of Brazil’s transport are already running on biofuels, and which are not?
Today, liquid biofuels play a significant role in Brazilian road transport. Thanks to decades of ethanol blending, about 22% of the energy powering Brazil’s transport sector already comes from biofuels, far higher than in most countries. Sugarcane ethanol fuels a large share of cars, and biodiesel (from soy and other oils) is blended into diesel for trucks and buses.
However, not all segments are covered. Light-duty vehicles benefit most from biofuels (many cars can run entirely on ethanol), but heavy freight trucks and aviation still rely on fossil fuels. Road freight transport is mostly powered by diesel, and jet fuel remains mostly petroleum-derived. This split hints at where further decarbonisation efforts must focus. Brazil’s existing biofuel systems tackle gasoline use effectively; the harder task ahead lies with diesel and kerosene in trucks, shipping, and planes.
How Brazil’s Transport System Took Shape
Since the 1970s, Brazil has mandated ethanol blending (currently 30% in gasoline) and promoted ethanol-only cars, originally for energy security rather than climate reasons. This history means Brazilian drivers and automakers normalised biofuels long before “decarbonisation” entered the lexicon.
Another structural difference is Brazil’s heavy reliance on road transport for both people and freight. Rail infrastructure is limited, and long-haul trucking dominates logistics. This leads to diesel fuel being the backbone of freight movement and diesel use has grown with economic activity.
Decarbonising Brazilian transport therefore faces a substantial diesel challenge, driven by long haul trucking and limited rail and coastal shipping. Electrification has historically played a smaller role in this context. That picture may be starting to shift: EV sales rose about 90% in 2024 versus 2023. Infrastructure expansion, model availability, and pricing all appear to be contributing factors.
Biofuels in Brazil today: What Exists at Scale
Brazil today has a mature biofuel industry at national scale. The two pillars are ethanol (for gasoline substitution) and biodiesel (for diesel substitution). Brazil is the world’s second-largest ethanol producer (after the U.S.) and third-largest biodiesel producer (after the U.S. and Indonesia).
These biofuels are integrated through blend mandates and widespread distribution. Gasoline in Brazil (type “Gasolina C”) is mandated to contain 30% anhydrous ethanol by volume. In addition, pure hydrous ethanol (E100) is sold at virtually every fuel station for use in flex-fuel cars. As a result, ethanol fuels about half of all gasoline-vehicle travel on an energy-equivalent basis, drastically cutting petrol consumption.
For diesel, the government currently requires blending 15% biodiesel (B15) into all commercial diesel. Compliance is enforced through fuel quality and blending rules overseen by ANP, and on road diesel sold as ‘diesel B’ contains the mandated biodiesel share.
Brazil’s National Biofuels Policy, known as RenovaBio, underpins the scale and credibility of these biofuels. Established by law in 2017, RenovaBio links biofuel use with Brazil’s Paris Agreement commitments. It provides a framework of targets, certifications, and credit trading that ensures biofuels contribute measurably to emissions reduction. Thanks to this framework and enforcement by regulators, Brazil’s blend mandates are largely met in practice (fuel distributors cannot easily opt out).
The focus, then, is shifting from quantity to quality: maintaining growth and decarbonisation efficiency without overstepping sustainability limits.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel in Brazil
An emerging arena is sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which has potential to be Brazil’s next biofuel opportunity – and challenge.
In 2024, Brazil enacted the “Combustível do Futuro” law that, among many provisions, established a National SAF Program (ProBioQAV) and set binding emissions reduction obligations linked to SAF use for domestic operators.
Airlines in Brazil will be required to cut aviation CO₂ by 1% in 2027 (relative to baseline) and progressively up to 10% by 2037, primarily through SAF use.
On paper, Brazil has considerable feedstock advantages for SAF. The law itself notes that SAF can be produced from a variety of locally available materials: agricultural residues, animal fats, vegetable oils, and even ethanol (via alcohol-to-jet pathways).
Export potential adds another dimension: as global airlines (especially in Europe and North America) face SAF blending mandates, Brazil could leverage its biomass to supply SAF internationally. There are already early signs of this – for instance, some Brazilian producers have obtained CORSIA-compliant certifications (ISCC+) for ethanol that can be used in SAF production. Also, major agribusiness players are eyeing the SAF market: Brazilian soy oil and animal tallow are being considered for export or local refining into aviation fuel.
Scaling SAF, however, will be a significant test as it requires new refinery infrastructure (e.g. hydroprocessing units or alcohol-to-jet plants), stringent fuel certification, and close coordination with airlines and regulators.
Brazil’s biofuels ecosystem will need to evolve for the aviation sector – leveraging its feedstock strengths but also embracing new technologies and partnerships. If ethanol was Brazil’s 20th-century “triumph” in transport, SAF could be the 21st-century equivalent, provided the right conditions (investment, technology transfer, sustainability governance) are met.
Conclusion: Maturity Brings New Constraints
Brazil’s experience shows that biofuels can scale up to become a major part of a country’s transport energy – in fact, Brazil’s transport sector is nearly a quarter powered by renewables, mostly thanks to biofuels. This level of maturity is a success built over decades, contributing to Brazil’s ability to pursue ambitious climate commitments in the transport domain.
However, maturity also brings new constraints.
Firstly, scaling further will test sustainable resource limits. Future gains demand either expanding feedstock production (raising land use concerns) or improving technology (e.g. cellulosic ethanol that doesn’t need new cropland). Brazil’s biofuel maturity means any additional growth should be carefully managed to avoid environmental trade-offs, especially regarding land use.
Secondly, the sectors left to tackle – long-haul trucking, aviation, shipping – require new solutions that were not part of the first wave of biofuels. Brazil could leverage its experience to develop fuels like HVO renewable diesel and SAF, which will likely involve different industries (chemical, aviation) and global partnerships.
Finally, data integrity, certification, and international alignment have become the gatekeepers for future progress. This is as much a digital and governance challenge as it is an agricultural one. The ability of Brazilian institutions to provide transparent, high-quality data on biofuel sustainability might determine whether its fuels are accepted worldwide as “net-zero compliant” and whether they truly help Brazil meet its 2050 neutrality goal.
Against this backdrop, chain of custody models, including mass balance and book and claim approaches, will increasingly be used to verify Brazilian biofuel data across complex and international supply chains.
Brazil’s experience thus far offers a hopeful message that it’s possible to shift a major share of transport to lower-carbon fuels without waiting for breakthrough technologies. But it also offers a caution: success changes the game. Once biofuels expand into the wider market, the criteria for “success” get stricter – sustainability metrics tighten, marginal emissions cuts get harder, and external pressure increases.
In this next phase, Brazil’s leadership will be measured by how sustainably and intelligently it integrates those fuels into a global climate solution.
FAQs
How does RenovaBio work?
RenovaBio is Brazil's national biofuels policy designed to cut transport carbon emissions. It works by setting annual carbon-reduction targets for the fuel sector and assigning obligations to fuel distributors to meet those targets. Distributors comply by acquiring CBIO credits – each credit equals one tonne of CO₂ reduced via biofuel use.
On the supply side, biofuel producers voluntarily certify their lifecycle emissions; the “cleaner” their fuel, the more credits they earn per litre. This creates a market for emissions reductions: distributors fund biofuel producers (by buying credits) in proportion to the verified CO₂ savings. The government enforces compliance (e.g. through ANP), ensuring distributors blend biofuels and retire enough credits to hit the national GHG reduction goals.
What biofuels are used in Brazil today?
The main biofuels in Brazil's transport mix are ethanol and biodiesel. Ethanol (from sugarcane and increasingly corn) is blended into gasoline at 30% as of August 2025 and also sold as pure E100 fuel for flex-fuel cars. Biodiesel (mostly from soybean oil) is blended into all diesel at 15% from 1 Aug 2025, with a planned increase to 16% by March 2026 that may be delayed due to pending technical studies.
Other biofuels remain nascent: biogas/biomethane is used in some trucks and buses (from landfill or anaerobic digestion), but not yet widespread. Renewable diesel (HVO) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) are under development with initial commercial production now beginning.
Is Brazil producing sustainable aviation fuel?
Yes, as of January 2026, Brazil has begun commercial production and use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Salvador Bahia Airport became Brazil's first airport to supply SAF for commercial operations in November 2025, with two daily flights operated by Gol and LATAM using a 10% SAF blend (the highest proportion currently applied in Brazilian aviation). The SAF, produced from used cooking oil, is distributed by Vibra. In December 2025, Petrobras announced its first domestically-produced SAF deliveries, with an initial 3,000 m³ sold to aviation fuel distributors at Tom Jobim International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, produced through co-processing at Petrobras's Duque de Caxias Refinery.
While this marks the beginning of commercial SAF production in Brazil, the scale remains limited compared to long-term potential. Brazil has authorized various SAF production pathways (like HEFA and Alcohol-to-Jet) and several ethanol plants have obtained certifications that could allow them to supply SAF processes. The government launched ProBioQAV, a program to spur SAF development, and enacted a "Fuel of the Future" law to promote biojet fuel research and eventual blending. Petrobras and other companies are investing in biorefinery upgrades to expand production. The expectation is that Brazil will continue scaling up SAF production before 2030, leveraging its biofuel expertise.
