DATAGRO highlights the potential of sugarcane with incentives for energy bioefficiency

The 28th Fenasucro & Agrocana began this Tuesday (16/08), in Sertãozinho (SP), with emphasis on clean energy sources, supported by sustainable industrial projects.

Many of the programs focus on the reuse of sugarcane bagasse, the development of sugarcane-based diesel and the use of green hydrogen as ways to reduce the need for fossil fuels and combat global warming.

And at the International Bioenergy Fair, the 9th DATAGRO & CEISE Br Conference presented a general overview of the sector, with numbers, expectations and challenges. The president of the consultancy, Plínio Nastari, presented figures that show the grandeur of the bioenergy industry, which has adapted over the decades, with incentives for energy efficiency.

“The plants were initially designed to be large sugarcane grinders using combustion. However, this industry has modernized, thinking about increasingly clean and sustainable energy”, he highlighted.

Currently, the state of São Paulo has the largest number of ethanol producing units and is also the largest consumer of the sugarcane agroindustry. Scenario that increases competitiveness at pumps and boosts the sector’s economy.

Furthermore, Nastari said that the potential could be even greater, due to the integration of different cultures, the use of biogas and second generation ethanol and, finally, the recovery of degraded soils, all to make the state even more competitive.

“Last year Brazil exported six ships of bagasse. And this is a rapidly growing market. And Renovabio is virtuous, as it stimulates sugarcane bioefficiency,” she recalled.

At the opening of Fenasucro & Agrocana, the honorary president for 2022, Luiz Fernando Pogetti, Chairman of COPERSUCAR, highlighted two global challenges, such as the need for food and transformations that curb climate change. “We have to feed a lot of people and also combat global warming. And the state of São Paulo has a golden opportunity: ethanol, which is clean energy. It’s not the only solution, but the quickest”, he pondered.

The State Secretary of Agriculture and Supply, representing Governor Rodrigo Garcia, took the opportunity to praise the return of in-person events. And he stated that in 2021 alone, agriculture showed growth of 28,64%, thanks to increased efficiency.