How Can Renewable Natural Gas Boost Sustainable Energy in Brazil?

The high populational density and poor or absent waste management strategies in developing economies make the deployment of waste-to-energy techniques a feasible strategy. A large portion of the Brazilian household domestic waste, for example, is inadequately destined, generating impacts on soils, water resources and increased emissions of greenhouse gases. Currently, Brazil produces around 1.83 billion cubic meters of biogas per year, but its full potential is yet to be explored totally. The country can minimize its energy vulnerability and increase the sustainability of its energy production by applying circular economy principles and waste-to-energy. This chapter seeks to unravel the potential for biogas production from household organic waste in Brazil, presenting an assessment of the potential of energy generation from Municipal Solid Waste and the promising localizations for implementing biogas plants. As a result, the country’s potential for renewable methane amounts to about 9 MM m3/day. The coastal and southeastern areas have a larger potential to convert household waste into energy due to the higher population concentration. The latter can also increase the energy production reliability in the northeastern and southeastern regions, supporting operators to circumvent seasonally renewable sources. The scenario for biogas in Brazil is positive. However, the country still needs consolidation of its public policies to incentivize the biogas insertion into its energy matrix and entrepreneurship toward the smarter handling of wastes.