Demand heated by hydrated ethanol was highlighted throughout the year 2018. Now, with the release of the December numbers by the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), the record is consolidated. At 19.38 billion liters, ethanol consumption in the year totaled 42.1% compared to the 13.64 billion liters registered in 2017. The figure also surpasses the previous record recorded in 2015 by 8.5%. Considering the accumulated consumption of 38.35 billion liters of C Gasoline, this means that hydrated ethanol served more than 26% of the energy demand for fuels in 2018. Most of this consumption is concentrated in São Paulo, with 9.96 billion liters. The state, which is also the largest domestic producer of biofuel, saw a 29.5% increase in demand. Relative growth was also observed in other producers in the South Center, such as Minas Gerais (69.4%), Goiás (48.4%) and Paraná (46.8%). Together, these three states corresponded to a consumption of 5.57 billion liters. Despite the high demand for ethanol, fuel consumption of the Otto Cycle (in gasoline equivalent) fell by 3.2% in 2018, going from 53.80 to 52.06 billion liters. Thus, the decline in the volume of Common Gasoline becomes even more evident, going from 44.15 billion liters in 2017 to 38.35 billion liters in 2018 (-13.1%). A drop in the amount of marketed gasoline also means a reduction in the volume of anhydrous ethanol. According to ANP figures, the specific consumption of this type of ethanol fell from 11.92 to 10.35 billion liters. In the sum with the volume of hydrous ethanol consumed in the period, the total was 29.74 billion liters. The value represents an increase of 16.3% compared to the 25.56 billion liters seen in the accumulated of 2017.
Source: Nova Cana