The emergence of the bioethanol industry has revolutionized corn production. The main reference for the production of this renewable fuel was the United States, while Brazil is an important and growing player. Worldwide.
The potential of corn bioethanol as an alternative energy source was addressed in one of the panels of the Maizar 2024 Congress, in which they participated Patrick Adam, executive director of the Corn Bioethanol Chamberwith Guilherme Nolasco, president of the National Union of Corn Ethanol of Brazil (UNEM)and Sergio Manzur, Secretary of Biofuels and Energy of Córdoba.
“Brazil has become a true biofuel locomotive, and it is going full steam ahead with bioethanol,” said Patrick Adam. And he added that bioethanol is experiencing a “silent revolution” in the countries of the region, being incorporated into gasoline.
“Brazil has a free cut of 46%; Paraguay and Bolivia, 25%; Uruguay, 10%, because it does not have so much raw material. In Argentina, the cut is 12%“We have raw material, but the political decision to raise it is missing,” said the executive.
In fact, Argentina exports 65% of corn grain, and only 3.7% is converted into bioethanol, which shows that there is a production capacity that is not being fully utilized.
Argentine production of bioethanol is 776,747 cubic meters, the equivalent of 776 million liters per year. It has its epicenter in the province of Córdobawhere there are three plants, in the towns of Villa María, Alejandro Roca and Río Cuarto.
On the other hand, Adam highlighted that the production of bioethanol “is part of a broader industry”, since it generates products for mining, carbonated drinks, and biogas.
While the sector seeks a new regulatory and incentive framework, especially one that provides for an increase in gasoline cutting, production is stagnant. The mixing of gasoline with bioethanol in the domestic market began in 2010, with a 5% cut. The objective on which the Government and companies are working is to bring that level to 15% in 2025and converge with the Mercosur level, towards a cut-off level of 30%.
“Without more biofuels, Argentina is going to enter an environmental default, therefore, it will have to continue moving forward,” said the representative of the Corn Bioethanol Chamber.
The global demand for biofuels for airplanes is what is coming, since they are the only key that the aviation industry has to decarbonize. For this reason, yesIt is projected that the demand for bioethanol for aircraft will have multiplied by 2.5 by 2050. “Today we cannot develop it, because we do not have a law that contemplates it,” Adam said.
Córdoba is the main province producing corn bioethanol and has a public policy to support self-consumption. “In the province, 70 organizations have defined the energy system for 2050, with a great role for bioenergy,” said Sergio Manzur, director of Biofuels for the province.
The big bet is to go towards a fleet of vehicles that uses bioethanol as a source of energy. “Replacing 30% of the vehicle fleet with electric cars would mean an investment of USD 309,000 million, far above what the adoption of flex cars with more bioethanol reduction would imply,” Manzur compared.
As part of its incentive policy for the sector, Córdoba has a provincial law that requires the public fleet (around 6,000 vehicles) to run on biofuels: E17 (gasoline with a mixture of 17% bioethanol) and B20 (diesel with 20% biodiesel), with three charging points. In addition, the province has already carried out tests to bring the cut-off in the official fleet to E70 (70% bioethanol).
To encourage use in the private sector, a project was developed to make 2 million liters of biofuels for self-consumption, based on investments in modular plants located in the provincial interior.
According to Manzur, The challenges for the future are the development of biofuels for air, river and maritime transport; production of biomethane with waste for use in vehicles; electricity generation with biofuels, and making the sector carbon neutral.
Córdoba was a model for Brazil: “In 2016 I was in Córdoba, when there was only one corn ethanol plant in Brazil: it was an inspiration,” highlighted Guilherme Nolasco, president of the National Corn Ethanol Union of Brazil (UNEM), founded seven years ago and which concentrates 90% of Brazilian production of this renewable fuel. “We had little internal demand, and the corn went like grain through the port,” he explained.
The opportunity to develop the sector in Brazil arose in the last decade, at the same time that corn production went from 72 million tons to 115 million, on an area of 20 million hectares. “In 2032/2033, corn production will be 176.9 million tons, and only 45 million will be exported as grain”project.
Brazilian bioethanol production is carried out in 22 refineries that are in operation, while another nine are in the authorization process, and there are more than a dozen in the pipeline. With that installed capacity, In 2023/2024 Brazil produced 4.4 million cubic meters (4.4 billion liters), and the idea is to reach 16 million cubic meters by 2033/2034: 16.6 billion liters.
As part of the value added system, Brazil also exports a fermentation byproduct, DDGS (distillers dried grains).
Last year, it shipped 600,000 tons, representing revenues of USD 180 million. Spain, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan and New Zealand are its potential clients.
