Usina São Martinho
São Martinho plan in Américo Brasiliense, São Paulo, where the new renewable gas production plant is set to be builtUsina São MartinhoThe São Martinho sugar and ethanol plant in São Paulo has announced plans to invest R$240 million in building its first biomethane (CH4) factory. The renewable gas will be produced from vinasse, a byproduct of sugarcane processing, and used as fuel. Scheduled to begin operations at the end of 2025, the plant is expected to process 100% of the vinasse generated at its Américo Brasiliense unit and will produce some 15 million cubic meters of gas per harvest. In July 2018, Methanum Engenharia Ambiental and Adecoagro, two companies working in partnership with funding from the Brazilian Funding Authority for Studies and Projects (FINEP), began using vinasse to produce biomethane in Ivinhema, Mato Grosso do Sul, using it to heat water and fuel their vehicle fleets. Every liter of ethanol produced generates 10 to 14 liters of vinasse, which can increase soil acidity and contaminate waterways, and is usually only partly made use of as a fertilizer (São Martinho Newsletter, October 31; FINEP Newsletter, April 29, 2019).
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