Brazil’s sugar industry sitting on huge untapped biogas potential, says report
Caroline Randall
Marketing Manager
Brazil’s sugar industry has the potential to produce 41.4 billion cubic metres of biogas a year, but less than 2% of that potential is currently being realised, according to a new report from Instituto MBCBrasil – an independent non-profit organisation that promotes sustainable transport solutions.
The report identifies the sugar-energy sector as one of Brazil’s biggest opportunities to expand biogas and biomethane production, with sugarcane residues offering a potential source of renewable gas for transport, industry and other energy applications.
Brazil has 345 sugar mills in operation, almost 92% of them in the Centre-South region, while the sector processes hundreds of millions of tonnes of sugarcane each year.
In the 2024 to 25 season, around 680 million tonnes of sugarcane were processed, producing 94 million tonnes of sugar and 38 billion litres of ethanol.
