Henrique Berbert de Amorim Neto, president of the Local Productive Arrangement for Alcohol (APLA), speaks during an event in Brazil. Photo: APLA

NNA News -Brazil’s ethanol industry is entering a new phase as rising domestic blending requirements and emerging applications in agriculture, aviation and shipping create additional demand for the biofuel, according to industry representatives and government data.

Henrique Berbert de Amorim Neto, president of the Local Productive Arrangement for Alcohol, APLA, said at the Global Agribusiness Forum in São Paulo that the expansion of ethanol use is increasingly moving beyond passenger vehicles.

He pointed to agricultural machinery, sustainable aviation fuel and maritime transport as areas that could add to demand, while identifying corn ethanol as a major source of additional production.

“Today, the greatest opportunity, beyond passenger cars, is what we are seeing in the revolution in agriculture,” Amorim told Brasil 247 during the forum.

His comments come as Brazil's domestic fuel policy is already increasing the role of ethanol. Since August, regular petrol has temporarily contained 32% anhydrous ethanol, up from 30%, under a National Energy Policy Council measure valid for 180 days, with the possibility of a further extension. The government said the change was supported by technical studies on the performance and viability of the blend.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy said testing of the earlier E30 blend found no relevant negative effects on performance, drivability, consumption or emissions across the vehicles and motorcycles tested. The study covered 16 light-vehicle models and 13 motorcycles.

The higher blend has coincided with rapid growth in corn-based ethanol. Conab, Brazil’s national food supply agency, estimates that the country will produce 11.91 billion litres of corn ethanol in the 2026/27 crop year, an increase of 17% from the previous season.

Sugarcane ethanol production is forecast at 29.98 billion litres, taking total national ethanol production to 41.88 billion litres, up 11.7% from the previous cycle. Conab said the higher mandatory blend could further increase domestic demand for the fuel.

“Corn ethanol today is the main source of increased ethanol production that we are seeing,” Amorim said.

The expansion is also being driven by potential applications outside road transport. Brazil's government has recognised second-crop corn ethanol as an eligible feedstock for the production of SAF, while the country's new ProBioQAV programme establishes a regulatory framework for sustainable aviation fuel and progressively increasing emissions-reduction requirements for domestic aviation from 2027.

The aviation opportunity is substantial. IATA estimates that airlines will require about 500 million tonnes of SAF by 2050 to meet the industry's net-zero carbon commitment. It estimates Brazil's biomass resources could support around 60 million tonnes of SAF production by that point.

The maritime sector is also beginning to test ethanol at commercial scale.

In July, Bunker One supplied 500,000 litres of anhydrous bioethanol to the CMA CGM Iron at the Port of Santos. The operation was described as the first bioethanol bunkering of an ocean-going container ship in Latin America. The vessel is equipped with a tri-fuel engine capable of operating on bioethanol.

Vale has also signed an agreement with Shandong Shipping Corporation for ethanol-powered Guaibamax vessels. The first is scheduled to begin operating for Vale from 2029, with the vessels designed to run on ethanol, methanol and conventional bunker fuel.

For APLA, the expansion is not limited to selling fuel. The organisation has been working with ApexBrasil to promote Brazilian technologies for sugar, ethanol and energy production in overseas markets. APLA's role in the Brazil Sugarcane Bioenergy Solution project includes international missions and business development for Brazilian companies in the sector.

The development of corn ethanol is particularly significant because it gives Brazil another production route alongside sugarcane. Conab's latest figures show that corn ethanol is growing considerably faster than sugarcane ethanol, although sugarcane remains the larger source of domestic production.

Amorim said the combination of these markets would require additional production capacity.

“There is such great demand for ethanol that we will have to produce much more than our current capacity,” he said.

The emerging picture is therefore broader than the traditional Brazilian model of ethanol-fuelled cars. Government policy is increasing the role of ethanol in petrol, corn is becoming a larger feedstock, and new aviation and maritime technologies are creating potential markets beyond road transport.