Brazil airlines face sustainable fuel rollout amid supply, cost concerns
Maria del Mar Whittaker
Divulgação
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), seen as the aviation industry’s main pathway to reducing emissions, will become mandatory for commercial airlines in Brazil starting in 2027. Airlines will meet the requirement by blending SAF with conventional jet fuel. Carriers, however, are concerned about the limited supply of SAF and its price, which is up to five times higher than fossil-based fuel.
Brazil established decarbonization targets under the Future Fuel Law, enacted in 2024. Under the legislation, airlines operating domestic flights will be required to reduce emissions by 1% in 2027 and 2028. The target will increase annually thereafter, reaching 10% by 2037. The Brazilian model differs from those adopted in regions such as Europe, where compliance is based on the percentage of SAF blended into jet fuel. In Brazil, the policy was designed to reflect the country’s competitive advantage in biofuels.
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“Globally, production is concentrated in HEFA [Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids], which is derived from oilseed feedstocks. Brazil has technologies such as ETJ [ethanol-to-jet], and we will be one of the few countries producing it. Brazil’s mandate was designed with the country’s strategic advantage in mind. We are among the few nations with an already well-established biofuels industry,” said Marcela Anselmi, environmental and energy transition manager at Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC).
Even so, airlines have voiced concerns about the new rules. Maria del Mar Whittaker, director of corporate responsibility at Abra Group, the parent company of Avianca and Gol, said the regulations are important but warned that costs remain a major obstacle.
“Conventional jet fuel accounts for about 40% of airlines’ operating costs in the region. SAF can cost three to five times more than fossil fuel,” she said. According to Whittaker, the impact of SAF prices is already being felt in Europe and parts of Asia, where blending mandates have already taken effect.
She argued that the energy transition must be inclusive and adapted to the region’s economic realities. “In Latin America, air connectivity is not a luxury but an essential social and economic enabler for healthcare, employment, and tourism,” she said.
In 2022, Latam announced a target of having SAF account for 5% of its fuel consumption by 2030, partly as a way to encourage production in Latin America.
In a recent interview with Valor, Latam Group CEO Roberto Alvo said the outlook for SAF in the region remains challenging. “Unfortunately, after over four years, we still do not have a single drop of SAF produced here,” he said. Given the current situation, the airline is unlikely to meet its target of 5% SAF usage by 2030, he added.
Asked for comment, Azul said it is monitoring developments and remains in discussions with different participants across the biofuels value chain. “At the moment, our focus is on assessing realistic project timelines, as well as discussing fuel pricing and distribution models,” the airline said.
Despite the approaching implementation date, the industry is still awaiting an executive order regulating the law. ANAC will be responsible for monitoring compliance and collecting emissions data. At the same time, Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) will establish the emissions-reduction factor for each fuel type.
“We will launch a public consultation shortly after the executive order is issued. We expect ANAC’s regulations to be finalized within three to four months after the government’s approval,” Anselmi said.
Beyond pricing, SAF availability remains a key challenge. According to Fernanda Rezende, executive director of the National Confederation of Transport (CNT), 146 SAF production facilities are either operating or planned worldwide, with combined potential annual capacity of approximately 19 million tonnes. That would be equivalent to just 5.7% of global jet fuel demand in 2024.
In South America, seven facilities have been identified in the planning stage—four in Brazil, two in Uruguay, and one in Colombia—with combined projected capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per year. “Although SAF is gaining ground in the region, supply remains incipient. Further progress is essential,” Rezende said.
Globally, SAF production reached 2.4 billion liters in 2025, nearly double the 1.3 billion liters produced in 2024. Output is expected to reach 3 billion liters in 2026—still equivalent to only 0.8% of the aviation industry’s total fuel consumption, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Petrobras’s co-processing of jet fuel with renewable feedstocks is expected to support the sector in 2027. The process is similar to that already used for diesel and gasoline. Although co-processed fuel is not currently recognized as SAF in Brazil, the industry expects the forthcoming decree to change that interpretation. Co-processing is already used in international aviation under global standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
According to ANAC, co-processing alone would be sufficient to enable the industry to meet a 2% emissions-reduction target by 2029. By then, additional dedicated SAF projects are expected to come online.
Petrobras said it has been producing and marketing SAF through co-processing since December 2025. “The company has already implemented co-processing capacity at the Reduc [Duque de Caxias Refinery] and at Revap [Henrique Lage Refinery], which is currently undergoing sustainability certification,” the company said. Two additional refineries are expected to gain co-processing capacity in the second half of 2026.
The state-owned oil company also said it is developing three dedicated projects to produce SBC (the sustainable blending component used in SAF production) and HVO (renewable diesel). One of the projects involves a new facility at the Presidente Bernardes Refinery in Cubatão, São Paulo state, with planned investment of $1.2 billion. Two additional projects are under evaluation: one at the Boaventura Energy Complex in Itaboraí, Rio de Janeiro state, and another at the Planalto Refinery (Replan) in Paulínia, São Paulo state.
In a statement, the Chief of Staff Office said the executive order is still under review. “Until it is signed, the text may undergo the evaluations and deliberations inherent to the regulatory drafting process,” it said.
