São Paulo October 23, 2024 - The special moment Brazil is experiencing and its international position, as a protagonist in the defense of biofuels in its presidency of the G20 this year, set the tone for the opening of the BBEST – IEA Bioenergy Conference. Brazilian leadership in multilateral discussions focused on the energy transition was praised by several panelists. The event, which began on Tuesday 22 and runs Thursday 24 October, brings together experts from dozens of countries.

(Opening panel in the BBEST – IEA Bioenergy Conference opening ceremony)

“The trajectory of the last two years with the launch of the Global Alliance for Biofuels, Brazil in the presidency of the G20 bringing biofuels to the energy transition agenda, the Brazil + Sustainable Agenda and the recent sanction of the Fuels of the Future law, which will bring a boom in investments in the biofuels market in the country, are examples of the importance of this moment”, said Marlon Arraes Jardim Leal, director of the Biofuels department of the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

For André Correa do Lago, ambassador and secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Climate, Energy and Environment, Brazil is in a good position internationally. “It is possible for Brazil to have sustainable biofuels, including SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) and those aimed at marine shipping.” However, he emphasizes, the development of the sector worldwide is urgent. “Climate change is ongoing, and we have to use biofuel technologies already available and developed, and particularly include developing countries”. For him, it is essential that G20 countries bear in mind that low-carbon economies must have inclusive processes, taking into account social dimensions in these discussions”.

(The three co-chairs of the conference. From left to right: Heitor Cantarella, Glaucia Mendes Souza and Dina Bacovsky.)

Lais de Souza Garcia, head of the Renewable Energy Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, agreed with the ambassador. “Bioenergy is a possible path and can be a good solution for developing countries”, he pointed out. According to her, this is possible because biofuels bring much more than just the reduction of greenhouse gases: they allow for greater sustainable development, with its social and economic dimensions.

According to the diplomat, an important point defended by Brazil internationally is also the construction of a consensus on carbon accounting, with consistent and common criteria in the various countries. “They must be defined based on science. And we will continue participating in this discussion in November next year, at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 30), in Belém”, she informed.

“We want to ask ourselves here how bioenergy will be able to accelerate a sustainable future”, stated Glaucia Mendes Souza, professor at the University of São Paulo (USP), coordinator of the Bioenergy Program (BIOEN) at the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and co-chair of the BBEST – IEA Bioenergy Conference. For Dina Bacovsky, chair of the IEA Bioenergy Technological Collaboration Program and also co-chair of the Conference, if climate change seemed very distant to her on the occasion of Rio 92, “something that my children or perhaps my grandchildren would face it”, the issue today is urgent and needs to be faced urgently.

Also participating in the opening panel of the BBEST – IEA Bioenergy Conference were Raffaella Rossetto, from the Campinas Agronomic Institute (IAC) and the BIOEN program of the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP); Marisa Maia de Barros, Undersecretary of Energy and Mining at the Secretariat of Environment, Infrastructure and Logistics of the Government of the State of São Paulo; Heitor Cantarella, co-chair of the event and representative of the Campinas Agronomic Institute (IAC); Edson Fernandes, executive secretary of Agriculture and Supply of the State of São Paulo; Carlos Graeff, representing Marcio de Castro Silva Filho, scientific director of FAPESP; Rafael Vasconcelos Ribeiro, from the Bioenergy Society (SBE); Rogério Meneghetti, Superintendent of Renewable Energy at Itaipu Binacional.

2024-10-24