Brazil Launches Federal Strategy to Incentivize the Sustainable Use of Biogas and Biomethane and Methane Zero Program
On March 21, 2022, the Brazilian government enacted Decree No. 10,003/2022, creating the Federal Strategy to Incentivize the Sustainable Use of Biogas and Biomethane. The strategy is a new package of incentives and programs to reduce methane emissions, promote usage of biogas and biomethane as renewable sources of energy and fuel, and help meet the commitments Brazil made under the United Nations Framework-Convention on Climate Change, the Glasgow Climate Pact and the Global Methane Commitment.
To enable the implementation of the Federal Strategy to Incentivize to the Sustainable Use of Biogas and Biomethane, the decree established comprehensive guidelines to encourage, among other things, the development of carbon markets and sector plans, the use of biomethane as a source of sustainable energy and fuel, and scientific-technological research.
It is worth noting that the decree provides a non-exhaustive list of urban and rural waste that shall be considered as sources of biogas and biomethane, including waste disposed of in landfills, generated in sewage treatment plants and derived from the sugar-energy chain. This provision is in line with Federal Law No. 12,305/2010, which created the National Policy on Waste Management and established that incentivizing environmental management systems was one of its objectives, particularly through waste-to-energy initiatives.
In addition to Decree No. 11,003/2022, Ordinance No. 71/2022 of the Ministry of the Environment and Ordinance No. 627/GM of the Ministry of Mines and Energy were published on March 21. The former instituted the Methane Zero Program, and the latter included investments in biomethane in a special tax regime to promote infrastructure development. The purpose of these ordinances is to encourage and enable the implementation of the Federal Strategy to Incentivize the Sustainable Use of Biogas and Biomethane.
The Environmental Team of Tauil & Chequer Advogados in association with Mayer Brown is available for further clarification.
