Ethanol as a hydrogen carrier and Law 14,948

Dr. Wang Zhiqiang's article "Brazil's Hydrogen Opportunity May Begin with Ethanol" (9 September 2026) proposes ethanol be treated not only as a transport fuel but as a renewable energy carrier reaching where hydrogen is consumed. The cheapest place to make hydrogen is not always the point of use, and transport and storage enter the final cost.

The proposal fits Brazil's legal design. Law 14.948 of 2 August 2024, which established the legal framework for low-carbon hydrogen, sets as principles technological neutrality (art. 2, I) and the rational use of existing energy supply infrastructure (art. 2, IV), and lists among its objectives support for the various production routes, valuing the country's multiple economic vocations (art. 3, II).

The core premise is that moving ethanol over an existing network costs less than moving hydrogen. Where that does not hold, the cost falls on whoever financed the reforming unit at the customer's site, not on the molecule supplier. The decision requires a defined industrial customer before the investment.

The article moves the question from production to delivery. For mining, ports, industrial parks and isolated systems, Brazil's ethanol infrastructure is an asset available today, while electrolytic routes depend on new build.