While the spotlight of Brazil’s energy transition is rightly focused on the monumental expansion of solar and wind power, a silent giant of immense strategic potential is beginning to awaken. It does not depend on the sun or the wind, but on something Brazil possesses in unrivaled abundance: organic matter. This giant is biogas and its noble derivative, biomethane—an energy source that promises not only to diversify our energy matrix but also to revolutionize agribusiness, solve a chronic environmental liability, and accelerate the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors.
Biogas is not a new technology. Its science—the anaerobic digestion of waste by bacteria—has been known for centuries. What is new, and transformative, is the convergence of factors that in 2025 position it as one of the country’s most intelligent and strategic energy bets. Climate urgency, the pursuit of energy security, and the need for a truly circular economy have created the perfect ecosystem for biogas to move from niche scale to becoming a pillar of national infrastructure.
The Hidden Billion-Dollar Potential in Waste
To understand the scale of the opportunity, the numbers presented by the Brazilian Biogas Association (ABiogás) are the best starting point.
This potential is not abstract. It is available today in the waste generated daily by our largest economic powerhouses:
- Sugar-Energy Sector: The largest share, with capacity to generate 46.3 billion m³/year from vinasse and filter cake.
- Agricultural Production: The second largest source, with 29.5 billion m³/year from swine, cattle, and poultry manure.
- Sanitation: With 8.8 billion m³/year generated from sludge at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs).
Currently, Brazil uses less than 3% of this potential. In 2024, national production was approximately 2.3 billion cubic meters. Although the number of plants in operation has grown exponentially, jumping from just over 100 to more than 930 in the last decade, production scale is still incipient. We are literally letting energy and money decompose in landfills and waste lagoons.
Eva Energia: A Successful Model in Practice
It is precisely in this gap between potential and reality that companies like Eva Energia have built their success. Founded with the mission of being a “solutions plant,” the company acts as a strategic partner for agribusiness and industry, implementing a business model that directly addresses the pain points of these sectors.
The process is a brilliant example of the circular economy:
- Partnership and Diagnosis: Eva Energia partners with rural producers (such as swine and poultry farms) and industries that generate large volumes of organic waste.
- Investment and Technology: The company invests in building biodigesters and all the necessary infrastructure on the partner’s property, taking on the capital risk and technological complexity.
- Turning Liabilities into Assets: Waste, which was previously a cost and an environmental problem for the producer, is funneled into the biodigesters.
- Value Generation: Inside the biodigester, bacteria transform the waste into two high-value products:
a) Biogas: Used to generate clean, firm electricity 24 hours a day.
b) Digestate: A high-quality biofertilizer returned to the producer, reducing dependence on imported chemical fertilizers. - Monetization and Mutual Benefits: The electricity generated is sold on the free market or used to reduce large consumers’ bills through Distributed Generation, creating a new source of revenue. The rural producer, in turn, eliminates their environmental liability, reduces fertilizer costs, and may also receive a share of the energy revenue—all without having to make the initial investment.
Eva Energia’s model, which already has dozens of plants in operation and development, proves that biogas generation is not only environmentally sound but economically smart. It is a solution that creates value for the producer, the investor, and society.
From Biogas to Biomethane: The Molecule of Decarbonization
The real game-changer for the sector is the purification of biogas to obtain biomethane. Biogas is a mixture of gases, mainly methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). Biomethane, on the other hand, results from a refining process that removes CO₂ and other impurities, yielding a gas with over 90% methane purity, chemically identical to fossil natural gas.
This similarity is its greatest virtue. Biomethane, also known as Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), can be injected directly into existing pipelines, distributed through the same infrastructure, and used in the same equipment that currently consumes natural gas. It is, therefore, a plug-and-play solution for decarbonization.
Its applications are vast and strategic:
- Diesel Substitution: Trucks, buses, and agricultural machinery can run on biomethane, drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions and particulate matter, a major local pollutant. For agribusiness, this means the ability to produce its own fuel, creating a cycle of energy self-sufficiency and protection from diesel price volatility.
- Industry: Energy-intensive sectors and those requiring heat in their processes—such as ceramics, food, and beverages—can replace fossil natural gas or LPG with biomethane without any adaptation, cleaning their energy matrix and adding ESG value to their products.
- Power Generation: Biogas can be used in gensets to produce firm, dispatchable, and localized electricity. Unlike solar and wind, it generates power 24/7, acting as a baseload source for the system, ensuring stability and security, especially in remote areas not connected to the main grid.
Source: Abiogás
The Circular Economy Revolution in the Countryside
The impact of biogas goes far beyond energy. By treating organic waste, the biodigester not only generates gas but also produces a high-value byproduct: digestate. This is a nutrient-rich biofertilizer that can replace a significant share of imported chemical fertilizers, whose prices are dollarized and volatile.
This is the essence of the circular economy. An environmental liability (organic waste, which contaminates soil and water and emits methane into the atmosphere) is transformed into multiple assets:
- Electricity (clean and firm)
- Biofuel (biomethane)
- Biofertilizer (digestate)
For a rural producer, this means creating new revenue streams, reducing operating costs (energy and fertilizers), and solving a waste management problem—all in a single investment. It is a business model that strengthens both environmental sustainability and the economic resilience of the farm.
Navigating the Regulatory Maze
Despite its evident potential, large-scale expansion of biogas depends on a clear and supportive regulatory environment. Historically, the lack of standardized rules among states and the absence of robust national policies were obstacles.
In recent years, however, the scenario has begun to change. The creation of the Biogas and Biomethane Regulatory Map by ABiogás highlights the progress. States such as Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Santa Catarina, and Bahia already have legislation allowing the commercialization of biomethane and its injection into the gas grid. The sanitation legal framework and the National Solid Waste Policy also create indirect incentives by requiring proper waste disposal.
The federal government’s Methane Zero Program and Brazil’s recent proposal to quadruple the use of sustainable fuels by 2035 are powerful signals to the market. However, for potential to become reality, further steps are needed, such as creating biomethane blending mandates in natural gas, opening specific financing lines, and simplifying environmental licensing for biodigestion projects.
The message to investors and policymakers is clear: every ton of unused organic waste represents a triple loss. It is an environmental harm, a management cost, and a missed revenue opportunity. Biogas and biomethane offer a pathway to transform this liability into the engine of a new green industrial revolution, driven by Brazil’s natural vocation. The sleeping giant is finally ready to rise.
Comment