No matter the challenges, there are strong tailwinds in favor of aviation biofuels made in Brazil, among them:

• There is a hopeful, eager end-user community.

• Instead of a wide variety of competing altenergy technologies — in passenger transport there is all-electric, compressed air, gasoline-electric hybrid, com­pressed natural gas, and biofuels — we have one existing alternative: for commercial aviation today, it is fossil fuels or biofuels.

Brazil is one of the most complex and important aviation markets — as a large country, like China and the United States, it is has an important domestic traffic, as well as extensive international routes to Europe, Africa, and the United States. Brazilian airlines using biofuels will be well positioned to compete on cost, compared to any carrier who does not use aviation biofuels and pays a steep carbon emissions charge to operate to Europe. That may confer an advantage on Brazil in the struggle for hub dominance in the main international corridors.

Not to mention that, although there is a $0.54 per gallon tariff on Brazilian ethanol made from sugarcane, there is no tariff in the United States on renewable jet fuel made from Brazilian sugarcane.

Despite the scale-up challenges, renewable jet fuel is the most promising sector in biofuels today — and Brazil is well positioned to be a key player.