Key facts
- Brazil has established a regulatory framework for carbon capture, storage, and utilization (CCS/CCUS).
- The ANP will oversee research, storage area assessment, operations, monitoring, and project approval.
- The regulations are part of the 'fuel of the future' law, aiming to enhance legal certainty for CCS investments.
- Brazil aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, with CCS playing a key role.
- Long-term liability for carbon storage rests with the operator, a point of concern for some.
- Stored carbon must remain stable for at least 50 years.
Brazil has established a comprehensive regulatory framework for carbon capture, storage, and utilization (CCS/CCUS) activities through a presidential decree. The regulations, effective immediately, place the oversight of research, storage area assessment, operations, monitoring, and project closure under the Brazil hydrocarbons regulator, ANP.
These rules are integrated into the country's 'fuel of the future' law, designed to advance renewable fuels and decarbonization across various sectors. The market has long awaited such regulations to bolster legal certainty and predictability for investments in CCS technologies, which Brazil considers crucial for achieving its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
Isabela Morbach, co-founder of CCS Brasil, described the approval as a significant milestone that will help move CCS projects from concept to implementation and attract new investments. The government anticipates that its forestry and energy sectors will need to achieve net-negative emissions to compensate for emissions from hard-to-abate sectors.
The framework mandates the development of a national infrastructure plan for CCS/CCUS, to be reviewed biennially. It also promotes infrastructure sharing to foster multi-user hubs and recognizes six technological pathways. Operations can only conclude after 20 years of monitoring confirms the stability of stored carbon, which must remain stored for at least 50 years.
A point of concern raised by Morbach is the long-term liability for carbon storage, with Brazil's regulations placing full responsibility on the operator even after closure, diverging from an international trend toward transferring this liability. Concurrently, President Lula also signed decrees for sustainable aviation fuel and hydrogen markets.