Dr Rafael Pellicciotta
Business Development Manager, Braskem
Rafael Pellicciotta is Strategy, Business Development and Product Development Leader at Braskem Specialty Chemicals & Renewables. He has a broad experience with petrochemicals and polymers. He hold positions at R&D, engineering, production, strategy, business development and technical service in relevant chemical companies.
Defossilizing the Chemical Industry: Are Alternative Feedstocks Ready to Scale?
The chemical industry is under growing pressure to reduce dependence on fossil resources while maintaining performance, safety, and supply reliability. Unlike energy and fuels, organic chemicals cannot be fully decarbonized, making defossilization — the substitution of fossil carbon with alternative sources — a critical pathway for the sector.
This presentation discusses the role of alternative feedstocks in supporting the chemical industry’s transition toward more sustainable business models, with an emphasis on scalability, availability, and sustainability performance. Using Brazil as a case study, it highlights how long-standing experience with biomass, combined with favorable agricultural conditions and targeted public policies, has created viable pathways for renewable raw materials beyond traditional applications.
Short- and medium-term solutions such as sugarcane and second crop corn are examined alongside emerging options like macaúba palm, evaluating their potential through key industrial decision criteria: land use efficiency, food competition, circularity, greenhouse gas emissions, and social impact. The role of co-products and integration with other markets, particularly sustainable aviation fuels, is explored as a lever to improve economics and accelerate feedstock development.
The presentation concludes by showing how the Adhesives and Sealants industry can leverage these developments through segregated or mass balance approaches, enabling portfolio defossilization, reduction of product carbon footprints, and alignment with customer and regulatory sustainability expectations.
Co-author:
Novakoski, Rochele Teribele
Breakout Session XII – Defossilisation & Circularity in Adhesives – 17 September 2026 – 17:00 – 17:30 – Room Mountbatten – F6