Renewal of the energy grid is essential for Brazilian agriculture and livestock sector to guarantee the access to international markets. Cooperatives can access a specific credit line for this field.
The Glasgow – Brasília connection at the 26th edition of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) has created an international showcase for the projects of alternative energy generation from Brazilian agribusiness. The biogas sector was present and showed why it should also remain on the cooperatives’ radar. The Low-Carbon Agriculture program (ABC Mais) already offers around R$ 20 million per year to the cooperatives interested in producing energy from biogas and biomethane. But where is this business that demands high technology and vision of the future heading?
The executive manager of the Brazilian Biogas Association (Abiogás), Tamar Roitman, says that the estimated growth of the sector is about 20% per year, reaching 2030 with the production of 30 million cubic meters of biogas per year. For these goals to be reached, more investments and public policies are needed. Abiogás is the main channel to make this possible.
Established in 2013, the association brings together more than 80 companies that transform waste into energy. One of the sector’s challenges is to reduce biogas production costs, which still requires a lot of research and new technologies. Besides biomethane, obtained from the processing of biogas, the sector is working to develop green hydrogen and green ammonia, biofuels that can be used in transportation, industry, agribusiness and domestic consumption.
“We have unmatched potential in the world. We need to value our resources and put this potential to work. We can supply 35% of the country’s demand for electricity”, the executive manager of Abiogás calculates.
According to her, the “countryside pre-salt” has among its advantages the fact that it is spread throughout all regions in Brazil, especially in the countryside. “There are 675 plants, most of them directed to generate clean electricity. Compared to diesel, biomethane can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 300%, as is the case of biogas generated from milk production waste”.
A LINK TO THE FUTURE
The international markets expect the Brazilian energy transition to a clean grid as soon as possible. This will secure buyers and increase the value of Brazilian products abroad. Even the major meat importers are already demanding that the cattle industry adopt emission reduction technologies. Internally, the industries also want to change their energy grid and the consumers themselves are increasingly aware to the theme.
Sidney Medeiros, from the General Coordination of Climate Change of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, points out that agriculture and livestock is directly impacted by climate change, but it is also one of the sectors that can contribute the most to reverse or minimize these changes. For him, the production of biogas from agricultural residues is an example of this.
“We have to establish the link between technology and producers in order to make knowledge reach the end”, highlights Medeiros. “We want an increasingly greener Harvest Plan (Plano Safra, in Portuguese). That is why we made a R$ 5 billion credit line available for the ABC Mais program.”
According to the federal government’s calculations, the country currently has 52 million hectares of rural areas using low-carbon emission technology. The target for waste treatment has already been beaten nine times. The challenge now is to boost the implementation of biodigesters, equipment used to accelerate the decomposition process of organic matter through the absence of oxygen.
Funding and technical assistance helped rural producer Luiz Carlos Figueiredo to invest in clean technologies in his family’s eight rural properties. He reported the experience with irrigation and alternative energy at the Brazilian panel of COP26. Figueiredo’s farms alternate land use with soybean, corn, coffee, and wheat cultivation.
“Five small dams with large reservoirs are used for irrigation, which guarantees supply in the dry season.
The water is also used to take care of the animals, as well as for the production of milk and eggs”, explained the farmer. Solar energy capturing panels were installed under the reservoirs. The water used for cleaning the waste is directed to a biodigester, which also generates energy. Thus, besides contributing to the reduction in gas emissions, the rural property is increasingly self-sustainable. An example for rural producers in Brazil and in the world.
