Brazil and India will create a Center of Excellence in bioenergy

From Left to Right -  Bento Albuquerque, Brazilian minister of mines and energy, Evandro Gussi, President & CEO, UNICA, Kenichi Ayukawa, President, SIAM India and Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India, at the MoU signing between SIAM and UNICA to  develop a framework for the cooperation and promotion of biofuels & bioenergy.

New Delhi, 22 April,2022: Bilateral cooperation between Brazil and India for the promotion of ethanol and its blends in the automotive sector will have a Virtual Center of Excellence (CoE), according to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on Thursday (April 21, 2022) in New Delhi between the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

"The CoE will be a knowledge portal, a hub that will bring together important and up-to-date information on technological advances, technical standards, regulations, public policies and sustainability related to biomass and bioenergy," said the President of UNICA, Evandro Gussi.

The document provides for a series of initiatives focused on policies to reduce greenhouse gas emission levels from the use of ethanol. To that end, it will use an evaluation of the energy source's life cycle, right from cultivation to the product that reaches the consumer. It also establishes the exchange of information on biomass for bioenergy, access to the market, and sustainability of biofuels.

The director general of SIAM, Rajesh Menon, said that the MoU will not only pave the way for deepening collaboration between the two organizations but also support and complement the governments' efforts in promoting bioenergy, biofuels, and other bio-based fuels for low-carbon mobility in India and Brazil.

"It is truly a privilege and honor for SIAM to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with UNICA to work together towards the common goal of low-carbon mobility through a combination of ethanol, technology, and investment," Menon said.

The partnership is based on five pillars: technology, standards, public policy, communication and sustainability. These, in turn, are based on issues related to fuel quality, material compatibility, market regulation, distribution and storage, and the use of flexfuel vehicles with combustion engines that run on either gasoline or ethanol in any proportion.

Sustainable Mobility

Brazil is the second largest producer of ethanol in the world, after the United States, and is home to the world's largest fleet of cars that use ethanol as fuel. India also has a strong focus on biofuels and has brought forward by five years, to 2025, the goal of achieving a 20% ethanol blend in gasoline. India is the second largest sugar producer in the world, after Brazil, and has the potential to convert surplus sugar stocks into ethanol.

In January 2020, the two countries had signed, at the governmental level, a Memorandum of Understanding on bioenergy. Among other aspects, they agreed to work together to promote and foster a low-carbon economy, aiming for the goals established at the UN Climate Conference. The document signed by UNICA and SIAM is in line with the Memorandum of Understanding signed two years ago.

"The future is moving towards a global ethanol market, and our partnership can benefit all countries through the decarbonization of the transportation sector. It is a topic that should interest everyone, because we are talking about actions to reduce the impact of climate change," said Gussi. The Memorandum of Understanding signed between UNICA and SIAM came into effect on Thursday, April 21, 2022.