Cogeneration and Bioelectricity Production in the Sugarcane Energy Sector

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21712/lajer.2025.v12.n3.p117-122

Keywords:

Biomass, Bioelectricity, Sugar-energy sector, Cogeneration

Abstract

Biomass from sugarcane plays an important role in the Brazilian energy matrix, offering both scale and energy flexibility. In this context, the aim of the present study is to analyze the Brazilian sugar-energy sector, with emphasis on cogeneration and the production of bioelectricity from sugarcane. The methodology included gathering information from government agencies and sector associations, as well as related studies on the topic. The results show that the Brazilian sugar-energy sector has significant potential for bioelectricity generation, driven by several factors. Despite this, it faces challenges that require public policies, intersectoral cooperation and investments. In 2023, 20.97 TWh were exported to the National Interconnected System, a volume sufficient to supply approximately 4% of the country’s electricity consumption, in addition to avoiding the emission of about 4.3 million tons of CO₂. Bioelectricity generation for the grid was concentrated during the dry season, strengthening energy security and reducing dependence on hydropower

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

  • Wilson José Feroni, Federal Institute of Education of Espírito Santo

    Professor at IFES, Colatina Campus, under a full-time dedication regime. Holds a degree in Technology in Systems Analysis and Development from UNESC, completed in 1998, a Licentiate degree in Mathematics from UFES, completed in 2002, and a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from UFES, completed in 2005. Completed a Master’s degree in Mathematics at the Federal University of Espírito Santo, UFES, in 2008. He is currently a doctoral student in the Graduate Program in Energy at UFES, São Mateus Campus

  • Itamar Nunes Silva, Federal University of Espírito Santo

    Holds a bachelor's degree in Control and Automation Engineering from Faculdade do Sul da Bahia, FASB (2015). Holds a postgraduate degree in Higher Education Teaching from Faculdade do Sul da Bahia, FASB (2015). Worked as an Assistant Professor at Faculdade do Sul da Bahia, FASB, from 2015 to 2017. Currently serves as a Military Police Officer in the State of Bahia.

  • Leandro Rigo Ramos, Federal University of Espírito Santo

    Holds a master's degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from the Federal Institute of Espírito Santo, IFES, completed in 2020, a licentiate degree in Physics from Universidade Luterana do Brasil, ULBRA, completed in 2018, and a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Faculdades Integradas de Aracruz, completed in 2015. He is currently a tenured Physics teacher in the public school system of the state of Espírito Santo, assigned to the Regional Superintendence of Education of Linhares, working as a school transportation technician

  • Ozeas dos Santos Silva Souza, Federal University of Espírito Santo

    Holds a degree in Systems Analysis and Development Technology from Faculdade do Sul da Bahia, completed in 2008, and a postgraduate specialization in Higher Education Teaching from the same institution. Has experience in the field of Computer Science. Has worked as a lecturer at Faculdade Pitágoras, Teixeira de Freitas unit, and at Faculdade do Sul da Bahia. Has taught courses in algorithms, data structures, advanced programming, object-oriented programming, databases, and microprocessor and microcontroller programming. Also works with corporate software development

  • Rita de Cassia Feroni, Federal University of Espírito Santo

    Holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the Federal University of Espírito Santo, UFES (2007). Also holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Production Engineering from Faculdade do Centro Leste, UCL (2009), with qualifications as a full Production Engineer and Civil Engineer. Has a master’s degree (2010) and a PhD (2015) in Environmental Engineering from the Federal University of Espírito Santo, UFES. Works in the following interdisciplinary areas, Production Engineering, specifically in Operations and Production Process Engineering, and Sustainability Engineering

  • Rochkhudson Batista de Faria, Federal University of Espírito Santo

    Adjunct Professor at UFES, the Federal University of Espírito Santo, assigned to the Department of Education and Human Sciences since April 2020, where he carries out teaching and extension activities. He is accredited as a Professor in the Graduate Program in Natural Sciences, PPGCIN, at CEUNES UFES, the Northern Espírito Santo University Center. He holds a PhD, completed in 2017, and a Master’s degree, completed in 2013, in Nuclear Science and Technology from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, UFMG. He holds full licentiate degrees in Physics, completed in 2003, and in Mathematics, completed in 1999, from the University Center of Caratinga, UNEC. He worked as a basic education teacher in several public schools in different cities of the state system of the Minas Gerais State Department of Education, SEE MG, from 1998 to 2020. He also taught in higher education at a private institution between 2003 and 2013. He worked as a tutor through the Brazilian Open University, UAB, in the Physics Licentiate program at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, UFJF. He has research experience in Nuclear Engineering with an emphasis on Nuclear Technology. His interests include research, teaching, extension and outreach related to Society, Energy and applications of Nuclear Energy

  • Millena Rodrigues Alborghetti, Federal University of Espírito Santo

    Holds a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of Espírito Santo, UFES. She is currently a master's student in the Graduate Program in Energy at UFES

References

Altoé, L, Feroni, RC, Pereira Júnior, AAM, Lima, PR, Galvão, ES, e Feroni, WJ (2025), ‘Análise do cenário energético brasileiro no período 2014-2023’, Revista Foco, v. 18, n. 4, p. e8191-e8191. https://doi.org/10.54751/revistafoco.v18n4-032

Bini, DA, Canever, MD e Denardim, AA (2015) ‘Correlação e causalidade entre os preços de commodities e energia’, Nova Economia, v. 25, n. 1, pp. 143-160. https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-6351/1985

Brasil (1931) ‘Decreto nº 19.717, de 20 de fevereiro de 1931. Estabelece a aquisição obrigatória de álcool na proporção de 5 % da gasolina importada e dá outras providências’, Diário Oficial da União. https://www2.camara.leg.br/legin/fed/decret/1930-1939/decreto-19717-20-fevereiro-1931-518991-publicacaooriginal-1-pe.html (Accessed 06 August 2025).

Brasil (1975) ‘Decreto nº 76.593, de 14 de novembro de 1975. Institui o Programa Nacional do Álcool (Proálcool)’, Diário Oficial da União. https://www2.camara.leg.br/legin/fed/decret/1970-1979/decreto-76593-14-novembro-1975-425253-norma-pe.html (Accessed 06 August 2025).

Carpio, LGT e Souza, GMD (2017) ‘Optimal allocation of sugarcane bagasse for producing bioelectricity and second-generation ethanol in Brazil’, Renewable Energy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2017.05.015

Cervi, WR et al. (2019) ‘Bioelectricity potential from ecologically available sugarcane straw in Brazil: a spatially explicit assessment’, Biomass and Bioenergy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2019.02.001

CONAB (2025) ‘Safra 2024/25 de cana-de-açúcar’. Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento, https://www.gov.br/conab/pt-br/atuacao/informacoes-agropecuarias/safras/safra-de-cana-de-acucar/arquivos-boletins/4o-levantamento-safra-2024-25/boletim-cana-de-acucar-4o-levantamento-2024-25 (Accessed 06 August 2025)

EIA (2023) ‘Country Analysis Brief: Brazil’. Energy Information Administration, https://www.eia.gov/international/content/analysis/countries_long/Brazil/pdf/brazil-2023.pdf (Accessed 29 July 2025)

EPE (2024) ‘Balanço Energético Nacional 2024: ano base 2023 – Relatório Síntese’, Empresa de Pesquisa Energética. https://www.epe.gov.br/sites-pt/publicacoes-dados-abertos/publicacoes/

PublicacoesArquivos/publicacao-819/topico-715/BEN_S%C3%ADntese_2024_PT.pdf (Accessed 06 August 2025)

Gonçalves, FO; Perna, RF; Lopes, ES; Tovar, LP; Maciel Filho, R e Lopes, MS (2023) ‘Strategies to ensure fuel security in Brazil considering a forecast of ethanol production’, Biomass. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomass3010001

Pavan, MdCO, Ramos, DS, Soares, MY e Carvalho, MMd, (2021) ‘Circular business models for bioelectricity: a value perspective for sugar-energy sector in Brazil’, Journal of Cleaner Production. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127615

Rana, Qurrat Ul Ain; Latif, Saira; Perveen, Saleha; Haq, Abdul; Ali, Sidra; Irfan, Muhammad; Gauttam, Rahul; Shah, Tawaf Ali; Dawoud, Turki M.; Wondmie, Gezahign Fentahun; Bourhia, Mohammed; Badshah, Malik (2024) ‘Utilization of microalgae for agricultural runoff remediation and sustainable biofuel production through an integrated biorefinery approach’, Bioresources and Bioprocessing. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40643-023-00720-w

Santos, H (2024) ‘O papel do Estado na expansão e na competitividade do setor sucroenergético no Brasil’, Revista da ANPEGE. https://doi.org/10.5418/ra2024.v20i41.17613

Santos, HFD (2023) ‘Fatores de expansão do setor sucroenergético no Brasil no início do século XXI’, Geografares. https://journals.openedition.org/geografares/8727 (Accessed 06 August 2025)

Sampaio, RM, Veiga Filho, AA e Bonacelli, MBM (2013) ‘Sistemas de Inovação: a geração de bioeletricidade na agroindústria brasileira da cana-de-açúcar’, Revista de Economia Agrícola, v. 60, n. 2.

Silva, DFDSE, Bomtempo, JV e Alves, FC (2019) ‘Innovation opportunities in the Brazilian sugar-energy sector’, Journal of Cleaner Production. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.062

UNICAa (2024) ‘Fotografia do setor sucroenergético no Brasil e os benefícios econômicos, ambientais e sociais gerados’, União da indústria de cana de açúcar. https://unicadata.com.br/arquivos/pdfs/2024/04/2bacb7cddca1cd1eef3511eab0106a46.pdf (Accessed 30 July 2025)

UNICAb (2024) ‘Bioeletricidade com biomassa da cana: boletim mensal’, União da indústria de cana-de-açúcar e bioenergia. https://unicadata.com.br/arquivos/pdfs/2024/07/70094aec82c0fafeaae7a5d6d7982be9.pdf (Accessed 06 Augustus 2025)

Vital, MF (2023) ‘Etanol’, Caderno Setorial ETENE. https://www.bnb.gov.br/revista/cse/article/view/2636 (Accessed 06 August 2025)

Downloads

Published

11/29/2025

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 3 (2025): 1 EIE

Section

Energias de Baixo Carbono

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Latin American Journal of Energy Research

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

O autor, no ato da submissão do artigo, transfere o direito autoral ao periódico.

How to Cite

Feroni, W.J. (2025) “Cogeneration and Bioelectricity Production in the Sugarcane Energy Sector”, Latin American Journal of Energy Research, 12(3), pp. 117–122. doi:10.21712/lajer.2025.v12.n3.p117-122.

Similar Articles

1-10 of 197

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.