In day 29 from May of 2023 took place at the Federal University of Lavras, at the gym “RenovaBio: The Largest Decarbonization Program in the World”, taught by Professor Dr.. Rafael Perón Castro, G-Oil Tutor- Study Group on Oleaginous Plants, Vegetable Oils, Fats and Biofuels.
In this, the entire history and trajectory of the use and distribution of vegetable oils and fuel oils on a worldwide scale was passed on, from discovery to current context.
Historical View
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, two names marked the history and development of the oil industry: Rudolf Diesel e John Rockefeller. His contributions and influences had a lasting impact on the world..
Rudolf Diesel, german engineer, is known for having developed the diesel engine. In your search for an alternative to steam engines, Diesel had the vision of using vegetable oil as fuel. In 1898, he demonstrated his engine running successfully using peanut oil. Diesel believed that diesel engines fueled by vegetable oil could provide a cheaper and more accessible energy source for people..
While Diesel was exploring the potential of vegetable oil as a fuel, John Rockefeller, american businessman, was building an oil empire. Rockefeller is often considered the father of oil and the richest man in human history.. He founded the “Standard Oil Company”, a company that quickly became one of the most powerful in the world.
Rockefeller revolutionized the oil industry by adopting innovative business practices. He implemented a vertical integration system, acquiring exploration companies, refineries and pipelines, controlling all stages of oil production and distribution. This approach turned him into a forerunner of what is now known as “cartel”, a term used in economics to describe the coordination and control of pricing and distribution of a particular product.
Rockefeller's influence expanded with the creation of the so-called “seven oil sisters”. these companies, which included Standard Oil Company, dominated the oil industry and distributed the oil that was discovered around the world. Through agreements and alliances, the seven sisters established significant control over oil supply and demand, creating a global dependency on this vital natural resource.
No brazil
No brazil, the history of oil begins to take shape when Monteiro Lobato returns from the United States with suspicions that the country has reserves of this natural resource. It was only in 1939 that the first oil extraction took place in Brazil, carried out by Companhia Petróleos do Brasil.
In 1953, the Brazilian government created Petrobras, a state-owned company that would become one of the largest oil producers in the world. This milestone brought national sovereignty over oil resources and boosted the development of the Brazilian oil industry..
No global context, in 1960, OPEC was created (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), an association of oil producing countries that saw the potential of their natural resource. Nonetheless, The first oil crisis occurred in 1970, when there was a drop in world supply and a significant increase in oil prices. This crisis highlighted the need to seek other sources of energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels..
In this case, Brazil has begun to explore biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels. Was 1975 that the Proálcool program emerged, driven by the oil crisis, encouraging the production and use of alcohol as vehicle fuel. Fiat's launch 147, in 1979, with alcohol engine, marked the beginning of a new era in the Brazilian automobile sector.
Beginning of concerns about the environment and creation of Renovabio
only at that time, during the World Climate Conference in Geneva, in 1979, is that the world began to worry about the environment more broadly. Scientific consensus on human influence on climate change only consolidated later, with the Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997, which established commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GEE).
Brazil, being a country without energy self-sufficiency, became vulnerable to oil prices and availability. In this context, Biodiesel emerges as an alternative. Created by a Brazilian, the Professor Expedito Relative, at the Federal University of Ceará, biodiesel is a renewable fuel produced from plant or animal sources.
In the most current scenario, the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015, marked a more serious global commitment to reduce the planet's temperature, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including those from fossil fuels. No brazil, in 2017, Michel Temer's government signed Renovabio, a pioneering program aimed at stimulating and regulating biofuels, seeking to diversify the national energy matrix and contribute to the reduction of emissions.
Thus, throughout Brazilian history, there is an evolution from the first suspicions of oil reserves to the search for more sustainable alternatives, like biofuels, aimed at reducing dependence on fossil fuels and mitigating climate change. Brazil has stood out as a pioneering country in this sector, seeking innovative solutions committed to sustainability.
O RenovaBio is a Brazilian public policy that aims to promote the transition to a more sustainable energy matrix, taxing oil and encouraging investment in biofuels. It's a kind of carbon credit program, but focused specifically on biofuels.
The program covers all types of biofuels as beneficiaries of the program. The main instrument used is the CBIOs (Decarbonization Credits), representing one ton of carbon equivalent of avoided emissions with the replacement of fossil fuels by renewable ones. Inside the CBI Market, ethanol is the product that generates the most credits, due to the sugarcane production chain being considered the most efficient in terms of reducing emissions.
Among the Brazilian states, São Paulo stands out as the largest generator of CBIOs. currently, each CBIO trades for around 60 reais, and Petrobras is the company that most acquires these credits.
In addition to the CBIs, RenovaBio implemented the RenovaCalc system, in which agents of the National Petroleum Agency, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) carry out visits to biofuel producing companies registered in the program. These visits are intended to verify the amount of carbon credits generated and debts associated with the production of these biofuels.
The initiative will also establish specific rules for biofuels produced from grains, like or biodiesel. Furthermore, the program recognizes the potential for reducing emissions provided by the use of tallow, encouraging the generation of decarbonization credits from this source.
Large companies in the biofuel sector, like Raízen, have played a significant role in producing both carbon credits and debts, seeking to balance its environmental footprint.
RenovaBio represents an important milestone in the biofuel sector in Brazil, by encouraging the production and use of these renewable fuels, in addition to establishing a mechanism to quantify and offset carbon emissions. with this policy, the country moves towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy matrix, reducing its dependence on fossil fuels and contributing to the mitigation of climate change.
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