Brazilian companies managing municipal solid waste (MSW) and operating landfills are expected to invest around R$8.5 billion (approximately €1.6 billion) over the next five years in new biomethane production facilities, according to the Brazilian Waste and Environment Association (Abrema).
Currently, Brazil has nine biomethane plants converting landfill waste into renewable gas, with another 15 projects awaiting authorisation from the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) across the country.
The projected investment follows the 2024 approval of the Fuel of the Future law (14.993/2024), which sets incentives for replacing fossil fuels with renewable alternatives.
The legislation mandates that 1% of fossil-based natural gas consumption be replaced with renewable gas annually for ten years.
"A market for biomethane has been established that supports decarbonisation, and this marks a major step forward for us," said Pedro Maranhão, president of Abrema.
Maranhão highlighted a shift from biogas plants producing electricity to facilities focused on biomethane production.
In 2024, Brazil produced 81.5 million cubic metres of biomethane, an 8.9% increase from 2023, according to the Brazilian Statistical Yearbook of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels.
Installed capacity, roughly 600,000 m³ per day, is enough to fuel 250,000 cars every 15 days or supply 1.2 million gas cylinders per month. Maranhão noted that in cities like Fortaleza, around 25% of gas already comes from landfills.
Despite producing 81.6 million tonnes of MSW in 2024, only 2.6 million tonnes (3.2%) were used for biomethane production. Abrema estimates that full utilisation of existing landfill infrastructure could meet about 5% of Brazil’s daily natural gas demand, currently 58.4 million m³/day, according to the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
"The sector has enormous potential," said Maranhão. "Each landfill can serve as a sustainable source of energy. Brazil could become a global leader in renewable gas, much like Saudi Arabia is for fossil fuels."
Overall, 11.7% of Brazil’s MSW in 2024 was repurposed for energy: 8.06% for electricity generation, 3.2% for biomethane, 0.05% for waste-derived fuels (CDR), and 0.35% for organic recycling.
Abrema is collaborating with municipal authorities, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the Court of Auditors to encourage towns still using open dumps—about 3,000 nationwide—to shift to sanitary landfills equipped with biomethane plants.
According to Abrema’s estimates, if all cities with more than 320,000 residents directed their waste to such facilities, Brazil could produce 2.86 million m³ of biomethane per day, more than five times the current authorised capacity.
Brazil set to invest R$8.5bn in biomethane-from-waste over next five years
