Innovation for a biobased economy in Brazil: challenges and hurdles in technology development for sustainable and economic utilization of biomass

• Grant number: 13/50950-5
• Support Opportunities: Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Regular Program Grants
• Start date: August 01, 2014
• End date: February 28, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Economics - Agrarian and Natural Resource Economics
• Agreement: BE-BASIC Consortium
• Principal Investigator: José Maria Ferreira Jardim da Silveira
• Grantee: José Maria Ferreira Jardim da Silveira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Economia (IE). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the opportunities, challenges and obstacles in the face of technological development, considering the sustainable and profitable utilization of biomass in Brazil. There is already significant knowledge regarding the techno-scientific parameters that involve the implementation of projects that utilize innovations in the field of bioenergy, particularly 2nd generation (DIAS et al., 2011; DIAS et al., 2013). However, in relation to the intense process of change that has taken place in ali areas of bioenergy, new challenges, as well as obstacles, emerge, that can only be overcome using the knowledge, in different segments of the sector's commodity chain, about the relationship between new and existing technologies, the role of the requisites of sustainability at each stage, and their effects together with the expected profits of technological innovations. A matter of extreme importance is the relationship between the different technological developments taking place in Brazil, and the possibilities of the technological transfer of knowledge accumulated by organizations (consortiums, public/private partners, private firms), thus making feasible new investment and boosting the technology market associated with the bioeconomy. The role of regulation, the requisites of sustainability, as well as the public's view on biofuels cause interferences in the process, to the extent that there is an increase in costs of R&D and investments, as well as contributing to the elimination of non-tariff barriers to the trade of bioenergy products. Sustainability criteria also contribute to the increase in the cost of the chain, in that environmental impacts that favor the diffusion of these new technologies are considered. The methodology foresees the realization of a roadmap focused on the chemical industry, which considers anything from aspects of intellectual property to public opinion, taking into consideration typical questions regarding the relationship between the different links in the chain in questiono Following this, workshops will be carried out in order to discuss the results, where a multi-criteria methodology will be applied. Parallel to this, simulations based on agent-based models are developed to analyze the key processes of diffusion, identified on the roadmap and during the workshops with specialists. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

POSTAL, ANDREIA MARQUES; BENATTI, GABRIELA; PALMEROS PARADA, MAR; ASVELD, LOTTE; OSSEWEIJER, PATRICIA; DA SILVEIRA, JOSE MARIA F. J.. The Role of Participation in the Responsible Innovation Framework for Biofuels Projects: Can It Be Assessed?. SUSTAINABILITY, v. 12, n. 24, DEC 2020. (13/50950-5)