Study addresses regulation and technology issues for this innovation in the country
Published on May 4, 2021
Although urgent, the decarbonisation of aviation faces many challenges. At the moment, the biggest of these challenges are the regulatory and technological aspects in the production of sustainable fuels.
Brazil is an extensive country and has great availability of natural resources. Due to that, it has great potential for the production of green hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuels. Still, a specific regulation for these fuels is only in elaboration – a fact that hinders the development of production plants.
Since the start of the project in 2017, ProQR has been advising its policy partners to answer key questions to enable this transition. Some of them are: What is the state of innovation and the potential to decarbonise aviation fuels? What are the key issues related to the development of e-fuels for aviation? How is the regulatory environment for this topic? The study “Development of Aviation Electrofuels: Technological Dynamics and Regulatory Challenges” (ProQR, 2019) was prepared in partnership with the Energy Economics Group, IE/UFRJ, and brings some answers.
The report presents the so-called “drivers” of the disruptive transformation which is underway in the energy sector. At first, it is recommended to broaden the view for decentralised alternatives of production and use of energy. In practice, this means to promote the production of sustainable aviation fuels on a smaller scale, near airports for example.
According to the authors’ observation, this new perspective represents a structural transformation in the logistic of the energy value chain. Finally, it is important to observe and consider the institutional and regulatory conditions already existing in each country. Based on these conditions, it is possible to estimate the potential of decentralisation, and think in detail about which new sectoral and regulatory policies will be necessary.
From a technological point of view, the report also analyses the dynamics of new fuels development from technical conditioning factors such as raw materials, products and equipment. It also discusses the main stages of the international certification process for aviation fuels, as well as aspects of the regulatory framework in Brazil.
Finally, this document provides relevant context and guidelines for actors who actively work in the jet fuel sector, so that institutional, regulatory and logistical steps are taken towards amplifying clean aviation.
To access the document in Portuguese, click here.
The study was conducted by the German Cooperation for Sustainable Development in partnership with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
Contributors to this article are Ruth Barbosa and Viola Rebekka Kammertöns.
