Brazil: Biofuels Annual
As part of the ambitious goals set at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris on December 2016, the Brazilian Minister of Mines and Energy (MME) announced the RenovaBio program. The program proposes to create a regulatory framework to revitalize the biofuels sector, encouraging energy efficiency gains in biofuels production and use, and will recognize that different biofuels have different capacities to contribute to the de-carbonization goals set at COP21. In March 2017, Brazilian ethanol producers requested the Brazilian Government re-instate a tariff on ethanol imports. As of the date of this report, no decision has been made. Producers claim that the pace of imports jeopardizes domestic ethanol production; especially in northeastern Brazil, where import volumes have risen significantly due to competitive prices from imported corn ethanol. The United States remains the top supplier of ethanol to Brazil. The Brazilian ethanol-use mandate remains unchanged at 27 percent (E27) whereas the biodiesel mandate increased to eight percent (B8) in March 2017.
