Sugar-energy sector aims to increase demand for ethanol

The Brazilian sugar-energy sector started 2024 expecting to increase the competitiveness of the ethanol against gasoline C at pumps and to motivate consumers to choose the biofuel.

Biofuels have an essential role in reducing emissions of CO2eq into the atmosphere and in the Brazilian energy transition, a subject in focus in practically all events of the sector.

In this scenario, this year, Unica (Brazilian Sugarcane Industry and Bioenergy Association) created “Go Ethanol”, a campaign to motivate drivers to use ethanol, highlighting the benefits of the biofuel to the planet. The campaign has been released on social media, on radio and on TV.

Initiatives and public policies to stimulate the consumption of biofuels and strengthen the sugar-energy sector have emerged in several states of Brazil, as in Paraíba and Minas Gerais.

In addition to ethanol produced from sugarcane, the fuel obtained from corn continues to increase in Brazil and has been an alternative for the domestic supply, especially in the North and Northeast during the sugarcane offseason period.

According to Conab (Brazil’s National Company for Food Supply), the production of ethanol from corn advanced 33.1% from 2022/23 to 2023/24, reaching 5.92 billion liters. As for 2024/25 (which has started officially in April/24), the volume is forecasted at 6.8 billion liters in Brazil, also according to Conab data.

In the Northeastern region, the ethanol consumption in the retail market is already higher compared to last year. According to the ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels – Brazil), the volume of ethanol purchased in Pernambuco increased 58%; in Alagoas, 30%; and, in Paraíba, 54% (comparing September/23 to March/24 of the 2023/24 crop to the same period in 2022/23). Regarding parity at pumps, for the three producing states, the average between biofuel and gasoline C is at around 71% in this crop (from September/23 to April/24). In the 2022/23 season, the average parity was between 75.6% and 77.6% in the same comparison.