In Brazil, National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) approved financing totaling R$1 billion for Raízen Energia S/A to build a second-generation Cellulosic Ethanol Unit, E2G, in Andradina (SP), with an installed production capacity of up to 82 million liters per year.
With resources from the BNDES Mais Inovação Program (R$500 million) and the Climate Fund (R$500 million), the plant will be one of six planned in the country to achieve economic viability of E2G by 2028. The biofuel has confirmed applicability in several projected fronts, such as SAF (sustainable aviation fuel), green hydrogen and marine fuel. In total, the Raízen project foresees investments of approximately R$1.4 billion and the generation of more than 1,500 direct jobs during the construction phase and 200 during operation, per plant.
The E2G plant, unlike the conventional method of ethanol production (fermentation of sugarcane juice with yeast), uses specially formulated enzymes to extract the sugars present in the cellulose of sugarcane bagasse, which are subsequently fermented by yeast.
Currently, E2G production in the world is incipient, representing less than 1% of ethanol production in Brazil. With financial support from BNDES, national capacity could reach 440 million liters of the biofuel, considering Raízen’s six plants. In comparison, first-generation ethanol production in Brazil reached an average of 34.2 billion liters in 2024.
Tags: 2G ethanol, BNDES, Brazil
Category: Fuels
