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Technology gains ground in Brazilian heavy transport by combining fast refueling, high autonomy, and lower environmental impact, while the country discusses alternatives to reduce diesel dependency in trucks and buses that move cargo, influence logistics costs, and affect air quality.
Brazilian road transport is expanding the search for diesel alternative fuels amid cost variations, environmental demands, and the need to reduce emissions in a fleet of heavy vehicles still dependent on petroleum derivatives.
Among the technologies evaluated by manufacturers, distributors, and transport companies, biomethane appears as one of the options closest to the current operation of fleets, as it allows for fast refueling and autonomy compatible with medium and long-distance trips.
The change involves a sector relevant to the Brazilian economy, as highways remain the main means of cargo movement in the country.
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In the environmental context, data from the Energy Research Company indicates that road transport accounts for a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions associated with the energy sector in Brazil.
The presence of diesel in the fleet is explained by the already installed infrastructure, national supply, and the adaptation of vehicles to the routine of transport companies.
Even so, the dependency on this fuel keeps freight subject to price variations, imports, and emission control rules, especially in large urban centers and logistics corridors.
Biomethane gains ground in cargo transport
In the group of expanding alternatives, biomethane stands out for preserving part of the operational logic already used by drivers and transport companies.
According to Erik Trencht, director of Renewable Gases at Ultragaz, trucks powered by biomethane can be refueled in about eight minutes and reach autonomy between 500 and 700 kilometers, a performance that reduces one of the operational limitations faced by electric models over long distances.
Stop time is one of the points considered by companies when comparing technologies.
While electric trucks depend on high-power chargers and may require more rigid recharge planning, renewable gas models can operate on fixed routes with refueling concentrated at their own bases or dedicated points.
This profile primarily serves logistics companies with predictable routes, defined distribution centers, and direct control over the fleet.
In such operations, the absence of a broad public network of stations tends to have a smaller impact because refueling can be organized within the company’s own structure, especially in larger volume contracts.
Produced from biogas generated in agro-industrial waste, landfills, sewage treatment plants, and livestock manure, the fuel also enters the debate on reducing emissions in heavy transport.
When replacing fossil natural gas or diesel, biomethane can reduce the carbon intensity of transport, provided that the production and distribution chain is certified and monitored.
Lack of stations limits progress outside fixed routes
The expansion of biomethane, however, depends on a supply network compatible with the scale of the Brazilian fleet.
EPE itself points out that the internalization of gas supply in a continental country is a significant barrier to the widespread adoption of trucks and buses powered by natural gas or biomethane.
This limitation helps explain why the technology advances first in closed operations, such as urban distribution, transport between logistics centers, and industrial routes.
For independent truck drivers and companies that rely on variable routes, the lack of available stations in the interior still reduces travel predictability and requires additional planning.
The environmental outcome also varies depending on the fuel used.
EPE highlights that fossil natural gas can have a higher carbon intensity than diesel in certain life cycle assessments, while biomethane shows a more favorable result when produced in certified units.
This distinction weighs in the analysis of decarbonizing freight transport.
Replacing diesel with fossil gas can contribute to energy diversification and reduction of some local pollutants, but does not guarantee the same climatic effect attributed to renewable biomethane in life cycle studies.
Electric truck advances in heavy routes
Electrification is another route analyzed to reduce emissions in the long term, mainly because the Brazilian electricity matrix has a strong participation of renewable sources.
In a study on alternative powertrains, EPE estimates that a trajectory of greater penetration of electric trucks and buses could reduce emissions from the circulating fleet of heavy vehicles by 20% in 2050, compared to the reference trajectory.
The same analysis projects that the battery electric fleet could represent about one-third of trucks and buses in circulation in Brazil by 2050, if technological advancements, charging infrastructure, and economic conditions favor adoption.
The survey also estimates a potential drop of nearly 14 billion liters in diesel consumption compared to the reference scenario.
Operational tests have begun to demonstrate practical applications of this technology on cargo routes.
On October 6, 2025, Syngenta reported that a 100% electric truck traveled more than 250 kilometers between the Port of Santos and Paulínia, in São Paulo, transporting 27 tons of cargo in an operation carried out with the carrier Gelog.
The route included the ascent of the Serra da Anchieta, a section with high operational demand for heavy vehicles.
According to the company, the model used was the Electric Tractor SE 437, from the manufacturer Sany Irmen, in a test aimed at evaluating the performance of electric trucks on cargo routes with higher energy demand.
Even as tests progress, heavy electrification depends on economic and infrastructure factors.
Vehicle acquisition price, battery weight and range, availability of fast chargers on highways, and the capacity of the electric grid in logistics corridors are among the points cited in sector analyses.
Hydrogen and green diesel remain in a restricted phase
Hydrogen also appears on the energy transition map, although its large-scale adoption in Brazilian road transport still depends on technical and economic conditions.
The technology requires competitive production, safe storage, specialized distribution, and vehicles with costs compatible with company operations, factors that keep its application more concentrated in pilot projects and specific corridors.
Liquid renewable fuels, such as advanced biodiesel and green diesel, have the advantage of utilizing part of the existing infrastructure.
At the same time, their expansion depends on industrial scale, availability of raw materials, and rules that prove emission reductions throughout the entire production cycle.
The replacement of diesel tends to occur through different technological routes, depending on the type of operation, available infrastructure, and the cost of each alternative.
Biomethane can advance in fleets with dedicated refueling; electrification tends to gain ground in urban, regional operations and, gradually, on heavier routes; other solutions may serve specific niches as infrastructure and costs evolve.
Diesel pollution also weighs on public health
The discussion about alternative fuels is not limited to greenhouse gas emissions.
The burning of diesel is associated with the emission of local pollutants, such as particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, which affect air quality and are related to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, according to health organizations and environmental studies.
The World Health Organization states that almost the entire global population breathes air above the recommended quality limits, a fact that reinforces the relevance of public policies aimed at reducing emissions in transportation.
In urban areas, heavy vehicles tend to concentrate a significant portion of local pollutant emissions.
Reports and technical studies on vehicle emissions indicate that diesel trucks and buses are among the main emitters of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, especially in metropolitan regions and high-traffic corridors.
This scenario leads governments, manufacturers, distributors, and transport companies to test solutions that reduce emissions without compromising cargo delivery.
The transition, however, depends on the combination of infrastructure, financing, production scale, certification rules, and the adaptation of technologies to the different routes of Brazilian transportation.
In the short term, biomethane offers an alternative closer to the operational standard of diesel in planned fleets.
For the long term, electrification appears in sector studies as one of the routes with the greatest climate potential, provided that the country expands the network of chargers, reduces vehicle costs, and prepares the electrical grid for greater demand.
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