Brazilian President signs biofuels initiative into law

Brazilian President signs biofuels initiative into law

The law establishes a national biofuels policy, called RenovaBio, encouraging all biofuels, not just bioethanol and biodiesel.

According to a press release, RenovaBio is designed to reduce uncertainty for biofuel producers by establishing mandates to apply over a minimum period of ten years. President Michel Temer signed the bill into law 27 December.

The law passed the lower house of Congress late November 2016.

The Minister for Mines and Energy, Fernando Coelho Filho, said that the legislation was part of Brazil’s efforts to meet targets set out in the Paris Agreement. The release also said that RenovaBio helped the country enhance its energy security by increasing and stabilising domestic fuel production.

He also noted that a certification scheme will be introduced to monitor each individual producer’s contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gasses.

The project will introduce a tradable credit, which will be created when biofuels are produced and are then bought by non-renewable fuel distributors to show that they are complying with emissions targets. This method is also used by the US’s Renewable Fuel Standard in renewable identification numbers (RINs).

In April 2017, the state-owned Petrobras criticised the then-proposed law, citing negative environmental effects in terms of land use and the ability of biofuel producers to meet increased demand.