Biofuels as a strategy for CO2e-Reduction in Brazil

The 2050 zero cradle to grave CO2e emission commitment of Volkswagen has started in the group subsidiaries strategic studies and actions to find the most feasible “Way to Zero” for each region. For South America, especially regarding its biggest market, Brazil, the stablished European trend for high volume battery electric vehicles (BEV) will most likely not take place for passenger cars and light commercials in the middle term. The reason are local hurdles, common in emerging markets, such as the affordability for the average customers, a still in-construction charging infrastructure in a continental-size country and more urgent social priorities for public investments. On the other hand, the region vocation for agriculture make it attractive to take the opportunity of the already stablished biofuels infrastructure as a short and middle term action to reduce CO2e emission related to individual mobility. Nevertheless, this reduction will face technical, political and sustainability related challenges, becoming a multidisciplinary subject. This paper aims to describe the current situation of the main biofuel of Brazil, ethanol, and discuss the possibilities to use its potential as a complementary strategy for mobility decarbonization in this part of world.