Fueling International Cooperation on Climate Change: Brazil’s Contribution Through Biofuel Production

The mitigation of climate change has been an urgent topic of conventions and agreements for the past 30 years, especially when setting limits on gas emissions due to the burning of fossil fuels.

They aim to encourage global cooperation to reduce carbon footprints and promote more sustainable and greener practices by sharing responsibilities according to the economies’ role in the emissions, with transparency to foster accountability and trust, and with financial and technical support to assist developing countries.

International cooperation around climate change also counts on scientific collaboration in development and research. This multi-layered approach is fundamental to boosting the global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

Renewable energy is described as the power derived from natural resources that can restock themselves, like wind power, solar power, tidal or hydroelectric power. The generation of this type of energy is increasing worldwide, at an average of 16% per year, and it is considered essential to the countries’ energy mix for several reasons.

To quote a few, it could help nations to sidestep pollutant emissions, exhaustible resource reduction, and dependence on unstable foreign supplies, improving energy security, creating jobs, and, in some cases, supporting rural development. 

Biofuel as a renewable source of power

One source of renewable and green energy is biofuel, which is the energy derived from biomass (plant material or animal waste). This kind of energy is an interesting alternative to fossil fuels and can be divided into first generation (energy made from sugar, starch, or vegetable oil), second generation (made from non-food crops and agricultural waste), and third generation (fuels derived from algae). Each generation explores a different raw material, being the first and the second generation of the two technologies most used in the world.

In general, each tends to be more efficient than the other generation but not necessarily more cost-effective, which makes an attractive setup for bilateral and multilateral agreements on technology share and financial aid.

The biofuel as an alternative power to ease climate change.

Biofuel production has two major players in the world: the United States and Brazil.

As a member of the United Nations, Brazil is signatory to several international climate agreements with the purpose of reducing fossil fuel emissions and ranks second in the production of biofuel, particularly ethanol, which is mostly used for domestic consumption in transport and produced either out of raw materials that contain sugar and starch (1GE) or through residual biomass (2GE), described as cellulosic ethanol, a source in which Brazil started to invest as well.

The country has one of the most effective biofuel programs as part of its national contribution under the Paris Agreement and makes wide use of ethanol as an alternative to gasoline.

 Strengthening international agreements and cooperation with biofuel power

Despite being a renewable source of energy, the production of biofuel can cause controversy. This is because the expansion of 1GE biofuels can bring other economic and environmental costs associated with its refining process and the potential use of large areas of arable land, thereby competing with food crops and consequently affecting the prices of food and generating conflict over land benefits.

This is where the production of 2GE biofuel can become more attractive. Even with a few challenges, cellulosic ethanol still has excellent potential for production to supply the demand sustainably, and the necessity of scientific research and technological development to improve the cost matrix could be the right “fuel” to strengthen existing and forge new international agreements.

There are already a few models of bilateral and multilateral agreements, regional frameworks, and cooperation. An example is the memorandum on biofuel cooperation, research, production, and distribution signed by Brazil and the United States.

In addition to those existing models, an expansion of agreements can strengthen the cooperation between countries that have technology but need financing, countries that need technology and can finance, and countries that need both technology and financing but could commit to further exchanges.

Brazil has a pivotal role in the production and expertise transfer of bioethanol, so by enhancing international cooperation and forging new bilateral and multilateral agreements, it could help countries develop their own sustainable energy sources, reducing the global dependence on fossil fuels with the exchange of available information in the production and distribution of biofuels. Sharing these technologies with other countries can help them develop their own sustainable energy sources, reducing the global dependence on fossil fuels.

Such agreements could also attract more investments to Brazil since it has a low national investment in technological development, as seen by the lack of national patents in the sector.

The reinforcement of those international relations could also be strengthened further through joint research initiatives on the advance of biofuel technologies aiming for more efficient methods of production not only for 1GE and 2GE biofuels but also for 3GE and 4GE.

Having one of the best implementation policies in the world, Brazil can additionally share policy strategies to promote biofuels, such as blending requirements, and hence assist interested countries in creating a favorable environment to promote biofuels.

To conclude, enhancing global cooperation on biofuels technology and development can be beneficial to every country willing to explore this alternative in several ways, not only to decrease greenhouse gas emissions but, for instance, to also increase the internal power supply by adding more options to the energy mix, which can make the transition to a greener future smoother by alleviating the dependency on fossil fuel options.

Despite contradictions of land competition with food crops, with the correct policies shared and applied, biofuel development can not only coexist with farming practices but also could help to create new markets and jobs for rural communities and in energy supply industries.

Finally, deepening the connections between nations on sustainable practices can reframe the blueprint of our current living structures.