**Acknowledgements**

northeast. But that will depend as well on the success of policies such as *Propalma—Programa de Produção Sustentável da Palma de Óleo no Brasil*, or the Brazilian Program of Sustainable Palm

On the overseas front, the European Union has recently strengthened its position to disfavoring traditional biofuels, such as ethanol from sugarcane and corn, and biodiesel from oilseeds. The maximum demand for these biofuels in energy demand is forecasted to decrease from 7% in 2020 to 3.8% in 2030. This proposal has received harsh criticisms from various sectors of the

At a moment in which the demand for food and bioenergy will continue to grow for the next years as a result of populational growth, increased world income, and the evolution of energy policies toward cleaner and more sustainable sources [21], the European Union position, along with the United States decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, raises concerns regarding the immediate growth of biofuels worldwide. On the other hand, Brazil has now a great opportunity to set the stage to confirm its world leadership in the field of

Over the last years, we have noticed that a clear global movement is underway to reduce the use of fossil fuels in order to decrease the GHG emission in the atmosphere and, therefore, limit the rise of the temperature of our planet to 2°C, preferably to 1.5. One of the ways to achieve this reduction is by replacing fossil fuels used in motor vehicles with renewable ones

The enactment of the latest and most innovative domestic biofuels policy to date, RenovaBio, establishes a legal framework for its production and use in the country by promoting energy

By allowing greater market predictability for the entire biofuels chain, RenovaBio poises to take this industry in Brazil to new heights by creating more jobs and boosting the economy

However, there are some problems that may undermine the whole program if not addressed accordingly. For example, at the time of the creation of the Social Fuel Stamp, the focus was put on the social side of the program, neglecting the technical aspects that deemed that initia-

Another major problem lies in the technology used to produce biodiesel in Brazil: the transesterification, which is inefficient. Also, the process uses methanol—which besides from being a fossil source, the country still imports a good chunk of it—instead of ethanol, which is

Furthermore, the main raw materials used to produce biodiesel in Brazil (soy and beef tallow) present some environmental problems that are already known by the government and industry experts, largely due to the use of pesticides and herbicides, in addition to GHG from

efficiency and competitiveness of the sector through meritocracy.

with major investments from the government and private sectors.

tive a failure, as in the case of castor and palm feedstocks.

cleaner, renewable, and produced from the local sugarcane.

land use and land use change.

Oil Production [21].

172 Biofuels - Challenges and opportunities

biofuels [33].

**6. Conclusion**

such as biodiesel.

industry [21], as well as from the scientific community.

This work was supported by grants from CAPES and FAPESP through grant number 2012/51466-7 and grant number 2014/50279-4.
