⛽ No future for the future fuel?

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Proposals risk undoing Brazil’s Fuel Future

In October last year, Brazil’s government ratified the Future Fuel Law, described as the biggest milestone for the country’s biofuels sector since the 1970s. Among other provisions, the law increased the mandatory percentage of biofuel content in gasoline and diesel, ordering incremental hikes in the mixture of ethanol and biodiesel until 2030.

Brazil is among the world’s leaders in ethanol biofuel production, and dual-fuel cars (which are able to run on both gasoline and ethanol) have made up the majority of the country’s light vehicle market since the late 2000s. 

Along with biodiesel, ethanol has been tipped as a key component of Brazil’s energy transition plans, with its drastically lower carbon emissions when compared to gasoline. As such, the biofuels industry has been treated as a priority by the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva government, with last year’s Future Fuel Law tipped to spark BRL 260 billion (USD 45.8 billion) in sector investments over the coming years.

Not all segments of Brazilian society, politics and industry are pleased with this push, however.

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