FS, one of Brazil’s leading producers of ethanol and animal nutrition, has reached a significant milestone in its efforts to combat climate change. After four years of dedicated research and development, the company has successfully completed technical studies that confirm suitable geological conditions for injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from its biofuel production process deep into the subsoil. This groundbreaking achievement paves the way for FS to become the world’s first ethanol producer with a negative carbon footprint and the pioneer in implementing BECCS technology (bioenergy production with carbon capture and storage) in the ethanol industry outside of the United States.
The adoption of this innovative technology will prevent the release of approximately 423,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere annually from FS’s operations in Lucas do Rio Verde, Mato Grosso. Moreover, the company envisions expanding this solution across its other industrial units, potentially removing a staggering 1.8 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year.
BECCS technology represents a cutting-edge solution for capturing carbon dioxide, one of the primary contributors to the greenhouse effect, and injecting it deep underground into geological formations, where it will remain safely stored for thousands of years, effectively mitigating its impact on global warming.
In October 2023, FS drilled a stratigraphic well approximately 2,000 meters deep beneath its Lucas do Rio Verde facility to examine the rock formations in the area. The studies concluded that the Diamantino rock formation, located in the Parecis Basin in Mato Grosso, possesses adequate porosity and permeability conditions to receive the injected CO2 at a depth exceeding 800 meters.
Currently, there are only two ethanol producers in the world employing BECCS technology, both located in the United States. However, FS’s Mato Grosso industry will be the first carbon-negative facility, as it solely utilizes second-crop corn as a raw material and renewable biomass from planted forests as an energy source.
“The technical study’s result is an essential milestone to encourage the next steps necessary to unlock investments in BECCS technology by the ethanol sector,” says FS CEO Rafael Abud. “Now what we need is the advancement of regulation and carbon trading markets. In addition to utilisation in automobiles, ethanol produced with the technology can be used to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and marine fuel, making Brazilian ethanol increasingly one of the largest contributors to the world’s energy transition.”
Once the Brazilian Senate approves the regulation of the activity – included in the bill for the Fuel of the Future program – FS will invest an additional R$350 million in implementing equipment to capture, dehydrate, compress, and inject CO2 underground. Work could commence later this year, with completion scheduled for the end of 2025, creating approximately 230 direct jobs during well drilling, construction, and assembly of CO2 compression and dehydration equipment. Recently, the project received financial support from FINEP, a public agency that promotes innovation and focuses on strategic, structuring, and impactful actions for sustainable development in Brazil.
According to FS’s Vice President of Sustainability and New Business, Daniel Lopes, “This is a crucial step towards achieving FS’s vision, which is to be the largest producer of carbon-negative fuel in the world. We will now dedicate our efforts to monetizing this project through the sale of carbon credits, and await the approval of the legal framework by the Senate.”