Política nacional de biocombustíveis: da criação à implementação do renovabio no município de Uberaba/MG

Abstract

Since the 2000s, especially in the Cerrado areas, the sugarcane and energy sector has occupied territories in a continuous process of deterritorialization and reterritorialization. The flat terrain, favorable climate, water availability, and logistical fluidity have given Minas Gerais a prominent position in sugarcane cultivation, especially in the municipality of Uberaba/MG, which has shown exponential growth in planted area. Uberaba has been the largest producer of sugarcane in Brazil in the last four harvests (2020 to 2023). One of the factors driving the growth of sugarcane cultivation is the appreciation of ethanol in the search for energy security and more sustainable energy sources. Among the public policies to reduce the use of fossil fuels, the National Biofuels Policy – RenovaBio was created, with the main objective of supporting the commitments assumed by Brazil in the Paris Agreement. This policy includes mechanisms for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), commercialization, and predictability of the fuel market. It focuses on increasing the consumption of biofuels and their expansion in the Brazilian energy matrix, encouraging producers and creating an open market for carbon reduction credits called CBIO. This paper aims to analyze the formal content of RenovaBio, the political, economic, and territorial context of its formulation, how the program was implemented in the sugar-energy plants of Uberaba, and the environmental impacts caused by sugarcane cultivation in the municipality. The bibliographic, documentary-statistical research, and fieldwork allowed us to conclude that RenovaBio presents itself as a promising and innovative public policy in several aspects. In addition to encouraging the expansion of biofuels, energy regularity, and reduction of imports, it leverages technologies and investments by proposing a new commercial market. The process of creating RenovaBio revealed the formation of a network of actors with strong power relations, demonstrating the influence of the sugarcane and energy sector in the agribusiness sector in creating public policies that favor them. In four years of operation under the program, the sugarcane and energy plants in Uberaba have not seen significant improvements in their ratings and, consequently, in their environmental practices that result in consistent improvements to the environment. There was growth in the planted area, but productivity did not keep up with this expansion. The areas of native vegetation in the municipality were reduced and, during the program's audit, properties that had carried out deforestation were identified in one of the plants and, therefore, had to be excluded from RenovaBio. In addition to deforestation, the aggressive and uncommitted occupation of the sugarcane industry has generated other environmental implications in Uberaba, such as the scaring away and trampling of wildlife, the contamination of water and soil by the use of pesticides and fertilizers, soil compaction and erosion by the use of agricultural machinery, and the reduction of water availability. It is necessary to correct some legislative flaws in the regulation of the program and also seek effective sustainability in its implementation, considering all the environmental impacts caused by the expansion of monocultures necessary for the production of biofuels.