On a macro level, there are a remarkable number of varied approaches to handling biofuels, from seemingly winding down domestic production entirely to ramping it up and mandating ever greater blends between sustainable ethanol and existing petrol and diesel.
The absolute biggest piece of news in this regard on a global scale is Belem 4x, a pledge to quadruple production of sustainable fuels within the next ten years.
The pledge, announced ahead of the 2025 Climate Change Conference (COP30), is potentially substantial, with not only national but global implications for biofuel production and their integration into a fully sustainable net-zero world.
Is such a huge pledge possible? To find out more, it is worth exploring the pledge itself, which nations have currently agreed to it, and what it means for biofuel infrastructure and pressure relief requirements on a global scale.
What Is Belem 4x?
The Belem Commitment for Sustainable Fuels, often known as Belem 4x, is an initiative to turbocharge the use of clean, renewable energy sources in order to decarbonise several industries that are heavily reliant on fossil fuels.
The name comes from the Brazilian city of Belem, located on the northern banks of the Amazon River, where COP30 is set to take place in 2025.
Whilst biofuels are one of the most critical aspects of the pledge, it does include other forms of synthetic fuel, electrofuels and hydrogen, with the goal to produce all of these at a sufficient scale to replace more polluting fuels entirely.
The main focus of Belem 4x is on a macro level; rather than individual carbon footprints and technological developments, Belem 4x is aimed at gaining political support to provide the resources to vastly scale up these operations.
As the major hurdle to energy efficiency is developing the substantial infrastructure required, the hope is that with enough countries pledging their support, both public and private sector projects will receive the funding they need to deploy at scale rapidly.
Which Countries Will Sign The Pledge?
Exactly who will sign the agreement is unclear, but there are four countries that jointly proposed the initiative and are likely to be the strongest advocates going into COP30.
Brazil is the first and biggest supporter, having unveiled the pledge ahead of hosting COP30 at home. Brazil is one of the biggest producers of biofuel in the world and famously switched to more sustainable sugarcane-based bioethanol as early as the 1970s.
As well as this, India has rapidly expanded its blended petrol initiative, with the switch to a 20 per cent blend of bioethanol and petrol (known as E20) almost five years ahead of schedule, with plans to move to E25, E27 and E30.
Italy is a particularly strong advocate for biofuels, having campaigned strongly against EU regulations against internal combustion engines under the argument that sustainable biofuels are zero emissions and should be regulated accordingly.
Finally, there is Japan, which has been relatively late in introducing biofuel blends. According to The Japan News, they are only going to begin introducing E10 fuel in certain regions starting in 2028, with a national rollout in 2030.
Outside of the four leaders of the pledge, 19 other countries are said to be supporting it according to The Japan Times, which includes the Netherlands, Canada and Mexico, as well as a range of other developed and developing nations.
What Are The Implications Of Quadrupling Biofuels?
Given that there is a ten-year time limit on the pledge to boost biofuels, there will be some significant implications for any nation that signs the pledge, but the shift will affect some countries and their fuel-reliant industries more than others.
Brazil, for example, had constantly shifted the bioethanol blend for fuels from as high as pure ethanol (E100) to as low as E15, benefiting from the existence of flex-fuel cars and the pre-established infrastructure for biofuel cars.
By contrast, India has recently made a very sudden shift towards biofuels for both environmental and energy security reasons, and the result has been positive in some ways, but has led to problems for some car owners due to the damage it can cause to older, unsupported engines.
There have also been questions regarding the issues surrounding balancing fuel and food production with crop production. The easiest way to produce biofuel involves food crops such as sugarcane, corn and rice, but that can lead to food scarcity issues and increased prices.
There are ways to integrate agricultural waste into biofuel production, but that will require a connected approach across industries, which will need to be managed on a national or even an international level.
