Sustainable innovations in biofuels in Brazil and substituion of fossil fuels: a systematic literature review

Resumo

Given the growing global concern with the increase in terrestrial temperature due to the unrestrained emission of greenhouse gases, solutions have been sought to minimize the environmental and social damage caused by them. One of the best options currently available is biofuels, which are renewable and sustainable and have various applications. In this context, this study aimed to systematically analyze the published studies on new biofuels, time of energy transitions, factors that influence the development and diffusion of technologies capable of replacing fossil fuels, advantages, and disadvantages of each application, in addition to the main trends and gaps in the area in Brazil. The articles were searched in the Science Direct database using the keywords “biofuel AND sustainable innovation AND Brazil AND multi-level” and filtering by category review articles and research articles. One hundred and twenty-six articles were obtained, which were analyzed for objectives, methodology, main results, conclusions, links with sustainable innovation, and the year of publication. The results showed that there is a large focus of research on traditional renewable energy sources, such as ethanol, biomethane, kerosene, and hydrotreated vegetable oil, in addition to the fact that most studies are of the qualitative type. Nonetheless, there has been a significant increase in publications after 2015, mainly justified by creating the Sustainable Development Goals and RenovaBio. Thus, the importance of obtaining new sources and processes for biofuels is highlighted and, in this way, achieving a development that encompasses environmental, social, and financial benefits for all related parties, as well as for the population in general, because there is still a large research gap in the area, and further incentives and investments are necessary for research, development, implementation, and dissemination of biofuels.