"The use of biofuels in the Brazilian transport matrix is unparalleled in the world." The statement is from the deputy director of the Department of Biofuels of the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), Marlon Arraes, when participating this Tuesday (07/04) of a webinar on the use of biofuels and their positive impacts on health.

At the event, the Energy Research Company (EPE) released a technical note entitled "Impact on human health through the use of biofuels in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo". The company also presented results of the modeling conceived in a large study carried out on the subject.

The document released by EPE - already accessible on the company's website - states that most sources of air pollution are far beyond the control of individuals, as pointed out by the World Health Organization (WHO). A context that, according to EPE, requires coordinated action by policy makers at the local, national and regional levels, in the different sectors involved: transport, energy, waste management, urban planning and agriculture.

The EPE technical note also points out that environmental air pollution generates relevant health problems that especially affect the population living in large urban centers. This study, therefore, although based on data from the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, can be a mirror for surveys and surveys by other Brazilian states and even other countries with similar demographic profiles and urban transport dynamics.

For Marlon Arraes, who is also the general coordinator of ethanol at MME, RenovaBio is a program that allows a macro and integrated look between the environment and the human being. "We always aim and we are gradually building up a matrix of satellite models with a view to promoting a better assessment at each moment of RenovaBio," he said. "In this way, we will be able to obtain a better assessment of the impact of this goal, allowing us to demonstrate the real benefit that society can have". "This model that EPE presents us today, starting with the impacts on health, was very important". And he concluded: "Within the ten-year goals that the MME will discuss in the period between 2022 and 2031, we will already have the support of this modeling of the EPE, with results that really impress us".

The director of EPE Heloísa Borges (photo) recalled that Brazil has one of the largest decarbonization programs for the transportation matrix in the world. "In 2021, almost 25 million tons of greenhouse gases will be avoided in the atmosphere with the use of biofuels in our transport fleet," said the director. According to her, the technical note "will contribute to the formulation of these public policies and shed light on the benefits they generate for society".

The president-director of the Sugarcane Industry Union (Única), Evandro Gussi, affirmed that the technical note has solid data "for building a process of sedimentation of the credibility of this process, a very relevant delivery for human health" .