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There is an urgent need for energy sources with lower environmental impacts to dispose of waste generated by human activities. In this context, a holistic analysis of energy use of waste from agricultural and forestry activities, animal excreta, urban solid waste and sewage, waste from the pulp and paper industry and charcoal in Brazil is presented. Based on a bibliographic review, the current Brazilian panorama is presented in figures giving, a vision of national potential for harnessing bioenergy from this theoretical and technical potential. The QGIS3.24.2 Tisler geoprocessing tool was used to generate potentiality maps from census data of microregions and municipalities available in the IBGE database (2022) and in the Geocentric Reference System for the Americas (SIRGAS 2000). The results of map analysis by micro‐regions of the primary energy from agricultural residues highlight sugar cane, corn and soybeans crops, followed by wastewater and animal excreta. They stood out amont the studied sources of biomass with technical potentials of 53.17, 15.23 and 6.81 GW, respectively. With these results, it is concluded that Brazil could enable around 75 GW installed power, reusing all biomass, potentially 12.5 PJ, without considering the 16 GW already installed from sugarcane and paper black liquor plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Northeast Brazil, the use of biomass for energy generation is settled on traditional productive arrangements, such as a sugarcane production system in the humid Atlantic coastal area and firewood extraction from native tropical dry forests in the west. In parallel, substantial amounts of other biomass sources, such as residues from agricultural or urban processes, are still little used or wholly wasted, fudging the opportunity to generate new value chains based on these biomass sources. We hypothesize that using these non-traditional biomass sources to produce biofuels would significantly increase the regional bioenergy supply. In this context, this article discusses the potential for the production and use of biofuels and bioenergy in Northeast Brazil and its effects on regional development, which may be useful for both private actors and policymakers in the energy sector. The use of biomass sources for energy in the region is significant, reaching approximately 8.8 million tons of oil equivalent (toe) per year, emphasizing the already consolidated production of sugarcane and its derivatives. The use of all biomass resources in the Northeast region could supply around 4% of the Brazilian national electrical energy demand, with an environmental footprint of 0.055 tCO2eq per toe, which would contribute to reducing emissions from the Brazilian energy matrix generation. Regarding the spatial distribution of biomass sources, sugarcane prevails on the coast, firewood and livestock manure in the dryland area towards the west, and municipal solid waste is distributed throughout the region within urban areas. Different from what we expected, the potential energy recovery from municipal waste and animal manure would increase by only 17% the current bioenergy supply. In the future, since the majority of the region presents a semi-arid climate with limited rainfall, to increase the use of biomass as an energy source, there is a need to increase the supply of biomass sources with high efficiency in water use and good yields in drylands. For this, the cultivation and use of cacti and agave, for example, could contribute to making biorefineries viable in the region. Above all, public policies for harnessing bioenergy in NE Brazil must seek opportunities associated with the carbon/decarbonization economy, with studies being needed to assess the technical, economic, social, and environmental viability of future productive arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Since the year 2000 or so there has been a rapid growth on fuel ethanol production and consumption, particularly in US and Brazil. Ethanol trade represented about 10% of world consumption in 2005, Brazil being the main exporter. The most important consumer markets—US and European Union (EU)—have trade regimes that constrained the comparative advantages of the most efficient producers, such as Brazil. This paper evaluates the fuel ethanol market up to 2030 together with the potential for international biotrade. Based on forecasts of gasoline consumption and on targets and mandates of fuel ethanol use, it is estimated that demand could reach 272Gl in 2030, displacing 10% of the estimated demand of gasoline (Scenario 1), or even 566Gl in the same year, displacing about 20% of the gasoline demand (Scenario 2). The analysis considers fuel ethanol consumption and production in US, EU-25, Japan, China, Brazil and the rest of the world (ROW-BR). Without significant production of ethanol from cellulosic materials in this period, displacing 10% of the gasoline demand in 2030, at reasonable cost, can only be accomplished by fostering fuel ethanol production in developing countries and enhancing ethanol trade. If the US and EU-25 reach their full production potential (based on conventional routes), the minimum amount that could be traded in 2030 would be about 34Gl. Displacing 20% of the gasoline demand by 2030 will require the combined development of second-generation technologies and large-scale international trade in ethanol fuel. Without second-generation technologies, Scenario 2 could become a reality only with large-scale production of ethanol from sugarcane in developing countries, e.g., Brazil and ROW-BR could be able to export at least 14.5Gl in 2010, 73.9Gl in 2020 and 71.8Gl in 2030. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This work presents an assessment of sugar‐energy sector expansion in Brazil, focusing on the growth of the bioelectricity supply and considering two scenarios. The first scenario, called the BASE scenario, was based on the projection made by the Brazilian Energy Research Company (EPE) for the Brazilian commitments at the Paris agreement, presented during the COP 21 (Conference of the parties) conference and ratified in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), assuming that all the electricity from biomass could be produced by the sugarcane sector. The second is a scenario considering a higher share of the sugar‐energy sector in the Brazilian electricity matrix, called the BIO scenario. The investment needed for each scenario was evaluated, using a bottom‐up approach and assuming currently available technologies. The results showed that the BIO scenario could produce 55 TWh of surplus electricity more than the BASE scenario, boosting the share of the sugar‐energy sector in the electricity matrix, reaching a total of almost 130 TWh per year and requiring an additional investment that was 39% higher than in the BASE scenario. As the sugarcane surplus electricity could replace electricity from natural gas power plants, the BIO scenario could reduce emissions by 18.4 MtCO2eq in comparison with the BASE scenario. Through the input–output model used to evaluate the socioeconomic impacts, it was observed that the BIO scenario could add 919 000 job positions and cause a positive impact to the gross domestic product (GDP) of US$ 28.8 billion, which corresponds, in comparison with the BASE scenario, to adding 83 000 more job positions, and provides a 12.5% higher contribution to GDP. The total output was 8.6% higher in the BIO scenario in comparison with the BASE scenario. All of these analyses were carried out for three selected regions in the country: the traditional region, comprising São Paulo and Paraná states; the expansion region, including Goiás, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul states; and the rest of Brazil region. A spillover effect was observed over the total output in the Rest of Brazil region, showing that the impact of the investment over this region was proportionally higher in comparison to the investment done in other in other regions. The Rest of Brazil Region also presents a higher share of the indireect effects over the GDP, jobs created and total output. The final results of this research show the potential of the sugar‐energy sector to boost electricity generation, which can contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and to preserving the share of renewable sources in the Brazilian electricity matrix and increasing energy security and generation closer to the biggest centers of consumption, mitigating challenges for electricity transmission between subsystems in the National Interconnected System (SIN). © 2021 Society of Industrial Chemistry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is consensus that the use of renewable energy must be expanded. More and more restrictions on the use of fossil derived fuels may open the way for an increased consumption of biomass event those so far not perceived as feasible, such some biomass residue. Energy derived from biomass residues may provide even more benefits because it may replace other sources of higher-grade energy while providing proper destination for residues. Biomass from pruning residue has been overlooked as an energy resource due to many limitations. This paper addresses the issue and the means for energy valuation of pruning residues while provides final destination for them. It presents a framework to overcome most of today's challenges across the world. A case study was carried out to determine the main constraints and how they can influence the decision-making process. The variety of urban pruning residues and their rate of generation, handling, storage, logistics, economic and environmental issues, institutional regulations for a small city in Southern Brazil were taken into consideration in the analysis. Pruning residues were sampled in the field, then handled, shredded, dried, specified, stored and burnt in a concurrent woodburning furnace for testing. The diagnostics of the constraints and the lab tests were summarized and organized in a framework that aimed to assess the energy valuation of pruning residues. Results show that with proper assessment tools, projects, biomass analyses and burning technology energy valuation of pruning residues can be feasible. • Energy valuation of biomass pruning residues is feasible given proper conditions. • A novel assessment framework provides routes to overcome most of today's challenges. • A case study of energy valuation of urban pruning biomass residue in Brazil showed feasible to generate 1 to 1.5 MWe. • Information and data of bulk density, moisture content, heating value, of residues of five urban tree species. • Estimate of opportunity costs of disposal of biomass pruning residues in landfills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]