Corn Ethanol Boom in Brazil
Summary
“All facilities in Brazil have to cogenerate using biomass regardless of feedstock source.” In March, the Brazilian government lifted tariffs on imported ethanol through the end of 2022. In an interview with BNamericas, Biatriz Pupo, biofuel senior analyst of S&P Global Platts Analytics, stated that, “In our vision, ethanol from corn will gain a lot of relevance. The sugarcane cycle takes a long time to get a return, so we foresee a boom in corn plants, with corn ethanol production jumping from 3 to 9 billion liters by 2030, corresponding to 20% of the total [projected production].” The first corn-only ethanol plant was built by FS Bioenergia, a joint venture between U.S.-based Summit Agricultural Group and Tapajós Participações S.A. (formerly Fiagril). While sugarcane does come with a built-in biomass to fuel production, it has a limited growing season and it cannot be stored, since this feedstock starts fermenting as soon as it is cut. Although using biomass to power corn-based ethanol plants is tricky, it has a positive impact on the carbon intensity scores of the end product.