Why this is important to Wisconsin businesses: Wisconsin companies in the aerospace industry could participate in the supply chain.
Boeing opened a technology and engineering center in São José dos Campos in October, with plans to capitalize on Brazil’s expertise in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production.
Brazil has highly trained engineers and could become a leader in global efforts to reduce the use of carbon-based fuels, says Brendan Nelson, Boeing’s global president responsible for strategy and operations outside the U.S.
“This investment is a long-term one,” Nelson told Reuters News Service.
The airline industry has set a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. To achieve that, development and production of SAF from renewable resources that include vegetable oils or waste will have to ramp up considerably, the Reuters article says. Brazil already is a global leader in biofuels like ethanol made from sugarcane or corn.
Brazil’s aerospace industry is the largest in Latin America, with Embraer, the third largest global manufacturer of commercial jets, headquartered there—specifically, in São José dos Campos. Other companies, such as GE Aviation, Honeywell Aerospace, Rockwell Collins, and Parker Hannifin, also have operations in Brazil.
According to the World Economic Forum, several efforts are underway in Brazil to expand on SAF. One of them, the BioQAv project, plans to produce jet fuel from used cooking oil and test it on commercial flights in Brazil. Boeing, Embraer, World Energy, and Brazil’s GOL airlines are collaborating on that initiative.
Others involve making biofuel from sugarcane’s fibrous byproducts, from green hydrogen, and from carbon dioxide.
Brazil is one of the top destinations for U.S. aerospace products, so it could be a strong prospect for Wisconsin companies in that industry.
