Abstract
The development of a green economy is key to achieve sustainable development. Investing in greening the energy sector contributes to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions while helping to develop a more resilient economy. Public policies have a role in driving the biofuel sector towards a more sustainable path, reducing its environmental footprint and enhancing its economic, environmental and social benefits. The aim of this study is to analyse how public policies can contribute to greening the ethanol sector in Brazil. To accomplish this objective, a review of the economic characteristics of the Brazilian ethanol sector was conducted, based on official documents and reports, policies and on scientific studies. Then, a review of Brazilian public policies was conduced to analyse how public polices influence the sustainable production of the Brazilian ethanol sector. Brazilian bioenergy policies have contributed to establish a green biofuel sector, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing the efficiency in sugarcane production, creating jobs and improving air quality in cities.
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Acknowledgements
This study was conducted by the Research Centre on Sustainability (Greens) from the University of Southern Santa Catarina (Unisul), in the context of the project BRIDGE - Building Resilience in a Dynamic Global Economy: Complexity across scales in the Brazilian Food-Water—Energy Nexus, funded by the Newton Fund, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Estado de Santa Catarina and the Research Councils United Kingdom (RCUK).
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Berchin, I.I. et al. (2018). Contributions of Public Policies to Greening Sugarcane Ethanol Production in Brazil. In: Leal Filho, W., Pociovălișteanu, D., Borges de Brito, P., Borges de Lima, I. (eds) Towards a Sustainable Bioeconomy: Principles, Challenges and Perspectives. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73028-8_20
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