A global push to decarbonize air travel has groups from Big Oil to sovereign wealth funds betting on Brazil to become a top global center for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), Bloomberg reports. Brazil is becoming a magnet for investment as countries race to grab a share of what promises to be a fast-growing market.
Agriculture powerhouse Brazil has an abundance of cheap crops to make biofuels, providing the nation a leg up on competitors including the United States. Many of Brazil’s supplies also rank better in terms of carbon emissions, key to meeting requirements for SAF production.
SAF is one of the few pathways the aviation industry has at its disposal to curb its carbon footprint, which accounts for about 2.5% of global emissions. Interest in green jet fuel is picking up, driven by policy support, particularly in the European Union and U.S., but demand far exceeds available supply and is forecast to continue growing.
Production of green aviation fuel in Brazil has the potential to reach around 50 billion liters (13.2 billion gallons) by 2030 with further investments in agriculture, according to preliminary data from a study carried out by Airbus, LATAM Airlines Group SA and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. That’s similar to the America’s potential output, but Brazil is set to be a bigger exporter, with U.S. production being consumed domestically.
According to data by the International Civil Aviation Organization, Brazilian sugar cane ethanol has lower carbon emissions compared to other SAF ingredients such as soybean oil or U.S. corn-based ethanol. That means Brazilian-produced SAF would likely be more efficient in helping airlines reach targets to reduce their carbon emissions.
Brazil is already shipping ethanol to U.S. plants that turn it into SAF. Now it wants to make its own aviation fuel plants. While many Brazilian SAF projects are still in their infancy, equipment supplier Honeywell International Inc. believes about four to five new plants could “come to the market very soon,” said Ken West, the company’s CEO of energy and sustainability solutions.
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