RCN Conference on Pan American Biofuels and Bioenergy Sustainability

Session: "Opportunities and Challenges for Biomass Supply Chains in the Pan-American Region"

Title: Biomass transportation systems in Brazil: the cases of the ethanol industry and the constrains for exporting pellets

Author: Arnaldo Walter (Universidade Estadual de Campinas – Unicamp)1

Abstract

Brazil is worldwide the second largest producer of fuel ethanol, which is totally produced from sugarcane. Large-scale production has started in the late 1970s and the supply chain is well established in the Southeast (where is the bulk of the production) and in the Northeast (the most traditional area) regions. Recently, sugarcane and ethanol production has expanded towards the Central region, and the lack of adequate infrastructure has been a constraint for reducing costs and accessing international markets.

On the other hand, despite the fact that Brazil has a large potential for pellets production, due to the large land availability, adequate weather conditions and the available know-how for planting and harvesting short-rotation coppices, the production itself is very small. A big constrain has been the logistics that implies high final costs and no feasibility in the European market (the largest consumer and importer).

In this paper some issues related with the supply-chain of ethanol and pellets production in Brazil are analyzed. Figures of the current supply chain in both economic sectors, transportation costs and the available infrastructure are presented. The challenges for enhancing the production and exports are presented and discussed.

Along the paper, the points of view of the public and private sectors are presented. Recently, some of the investments in Brazil have been done by companies that want to be in a solid position in short term to medium term.

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1 The presentation will be developed in partnership with experts from the sugarcane and forest sectors.