One of Brazil’s top ethanol producers said it will proceed with the next stage of a roughly 460 million reais ($83 million) carbon capture project to supply what the company claims will be the first negative carbon-emission ethanol.
FS Bioenergia, backed by US-based Summit AG Advisors LLC, said Tuesday it will invest an additional 350 million reais to acquire equipment and deploy carbon capture for the project, after previously investing 110 million reais.
The announcement comes as Brazil’s President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday approved “Fuel of The Future” legislation that creates broader mandates for biofuels. The investment is a key strategy to reduce the carbon intensity of the biofuel that would make the product more attractive for nascent markets such as sustainable aviation fuel.
The technology, BECCS, will capture and store underground carbon emissions created during fermentation at one of FS Bioenergia’s corn-based ethanol producing plants in Brazil. Construction on the project is expected to begin next year, with completion slated for June 2026.
FS Bioenergia is moving forward with its project as Summit Carbon Solutions is seeing delays in its carbon-capture and storage pipeline in the US. Summit is seeking to build a roughly 2,500-mile pipeline to trap and store carbon emissions from ethanol plants across the US Corn Belt.
Courtesy of FS Bioenergia.