The rise in fuel prices in the country has caused the federal government to seek ways to reduce production costs to generate cheaper diesel. One of the ways considered by the Ministry of Economy was to reduce the mixture of 13% biodiesel in diesel sold in the country to 8%. But what seems like a solution may be a shot in the foot, because in addition to replacing a portion of the fossil diesel that is imported, the production of biodiesel ensures the heating of the Brazilian economy, by encouraging the internal processing mainly of soybeans, but also of tallow beef, sunflower, among others.

In view of this, last Friday (12), the Agricultural Parliamentary Front officially opened the Ministry of Agriculture in order to formalize its support for maintaining the minimum mixture of 13% of biodiesel in diesel sold at gas stations, as well as continuation of resolution nº 16/2018 of the National Council for Energy Policy (CNPE) - which foresees the increase of the mixture up to 15%, in 2023.

The suspension of the biofuel policy does more harm than good.

Producers talk about plant breakdowns, increased emissions of polluting gases, higher costs for raising animals and the consequent inflation in food.

The president of the FPA, deputy Sérgio Souza (MDB / PR), defends that "the damage generated by the reduction of the mixture of biodiesel to diesel can bring a huge problem to the Brazilian production system". The parliamentarian explains that "you cannot stay in a situation where momentarily the decrease of diesel oil is created in the country, but in the future it will have a much more serious impact on the economy, with the high price of food".

The letter presented by the bench lists the following negative impacts resulting from the hypothetical reduction of the biodiesel mixture:

Increased import of mineral diesel, which will further burden the port infrastructure and internal logistics already at the limits;

Reduction of soy crushing estimated at 9 million tons, closing of crushing industries and biodiesel plants;

Reduction in the production and supply of protein bran and animal proteins in the order of 7.2 million tons;

Unemployment in the productive chains of soy, animal proteins and bioenergy;

Increase in the cost of food production in Brazil (milk, meat, eggs, vegetable oils and other basic food products);

Increased emissions of greenhouse gases and pollutants;

Risks for meeting the goals of the National Biofuels Policy - RenovaBio;

Damage to the country's external image, in particular, to meet the goals in the Paris Agreement;

Immediate interruption of ongoing investments in the biodiesel industry; and

Discouraging new investments, in general, and in renewable energies, in particular, due to the legal uncertainty resulting from the breach of the predictability conferred by Law.

Reflection on food prices 

Much of the vegetable oil used in the production of biodiesel comes from the processing of soybeans, which are transformed into bran and oil. For every 5kg of soybeans, 4kg becomes bran (SOYBEAN - 80% bran / 20% oil). The greater the quantity processed, the greater the supply of bran for the production of feed for the feeding of cattle, poultry, pigs and others. With the cheapest feed, meat, milk and eggs are also cheaper.

The Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (Abiove) estimates that there are about 50 biodiesel plants spread across the country, with installed capacity to meet up to 22% of mandatory mixing with mineral diesel. The entity also informs that the production of soy in the country generates more than 1.5 million jobs and that in 2020 alone, almost 83 million tons of the grain were exported to the whole world.

Meeting with Minister of Mines and Energy 

Members of the Agricultural Parliamentary Front (FPA) participated on March 10 meeting with the Minister of Mines and Energy (MME), Bento Albuquerque, to request the maintenance of the use of 13% biodiesel in the mixture with diesel sold in Brazil .

Albuquerque personally assured the deputies that the mandatory mixing will be maintained. "We are not going to make any mistake at this moment of economic recovery," said the minister.

The positioning, if maintained by the federal government, brings legal certainty by guaranteeing the predictability established by the CNPE agenda, which in turn gives industries the possibility to expand biodiesel production and even to implant new industries, increasing the supply of jobs .