Government officially increases ethanol blend in gasoline and biodiesel; understand the measure

The federal government announced on Wednesday the 25th that it would increase the ethanol blend in gasoline to 30%. Today, the percentage is 27%. The new fuel composition will be called E30. In the case of biodiesel , the ethanol blend will increase from 14% to 15% – the composition will be called B15. Both changes will come into effect on August 1st.

The measure, approved by the National Energy Policy Council, aims to help Brazil deal with possible increases in the price of oil due to international fluctuations, such as that caused by the military conflict between Iran and Israel . The Islamic Republic is one of the world's leading producers of oil, the main input for the production of fossil fuels.

The projection is that, based on the new blend, there will be a drop of up to 0.11 per liter in the price of gasoline sold at gas stations, since ethanol, considering the tax, is cheaper than gasoline. The effect on the price of B15 in diesel has not been measured by the government.

'Historic act'

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira , highlighted, during the announcement ceremony, that the measure is a 'historic act' that will put the country on the path to self-sufficiency in gasoline, in addition to stimulating national production, generating jobs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Silveira chairs the board responsible for approving the change. The board is made up of several ministries and has the central role of advising the government on the implementation of energy policies. “With this historic act, we will once again be self-sufficient in gasoline after 15 years. We have reduced the need to import diesel, this is energy sovereignty,” he declared at the meeting on Wednesday.

Lula and Alexandre Silveira at the event that made official changes to the composition of gasoline and biodiesel in Brazil.Photo: Ricardo Botelho/MME

Fuel of the future

In October of last year, President Lula (PT) had already signed a law that paved the way for change: the Fuel of the Future law . The new rule established that the government can increase the ethanol mix in gasoline to up to 35%, as long as there is technical feasibility for this.

In March of this year, the Ministry of Mines and Energy made progress on the issue and released the results of tests that proved the technical viability of the E30. The ministry indicated that there would be no significant changes in vehicle performance with the adoption of the new 30% ethanol blend in gasoline. The changes to B15 diesel would also have no impact on the national fleet.

Lula responds to criticism

Even with the evidence released by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Wednesday's announcement was the target of criticism. The main point made by opponents of the change is that the new blend results in reduced vehicle autonomy. The argument is that ethanol has a lower calorific value and, therefore, would be less efficient than gasoline.

Another criticism made by those against the new fuel is that ethanol, in the field, competes with food production, which could result in a reduction in supply and make food more expensive for Brazilians.

The thesis was refuted by President Lula during the ceremony that made the change in fuels official this Wednesday. For the PT member, the argument that there would be less space for growing food does not hold up given the volume of degraded land that can be recovered for cultivation.

“ Brazil does not need to deforest in order to grow. We can grow 50% by increasing the size of the land by just 5%. We are in a country that has around 40 million acres of degraded land that can be recovered so we can plant whatever we want. It is by planting that we will sequester carbon. So, there is no way anyone will make a statement that my fuel competes with food,” declared the president.