Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
ment, and the results of relevant studies evaluating the environmental impacts as-
sociated to it, are subsequently presented.
6.2 The Energy Sector of Brazil: Composition of Brazil's
Primary Energy Matrix
The summary published yearly by the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy
(MME, Ministério de Minas e Energia) called “Brazilian Energy Balance” sho-
wed in its 2007 issue that the Domestic Energy Supply (DES) of Brazil had grown
from about 67 Mtoe (million tons of oil equivalent) in 1970 to 226.1 Mtoe in
2006. Since 1991, the evolution from 144.9 Mtoe means an average annual growth
rate of approx. 3.0%, which in the same period surpassed the average annual eco-
nomic growth (in terms of GDP) of approx. 2.75%, and the population growth rate
of approx. 1.5% (MME 2007). This situated Brazil, according to UNEP Risoe
Centre (UNEP 2007), as the 10th largest energy consumer in the world (about 2%
of the global demand), and the 3rd largest in the Western hemisphere (behind Uni-
ted States and Canada). According to the data of MME, in 2006 fossil fuels pro-
vided 53.3% of Brazil's DES, split into 37.7% from oil and oil by-products, 9.6%
from natural gas, and 6.0% from coal. Renewables accounted for more than 45%
of the DES, consisting of 30.2% biomass (around half of it from sugarcane prod-
ucts, the rest from fuelwood and charcoal), about 13.3% hydropower (1.2% corre-
sponding to imports), and an estimated 1.5% of other renewable sources. The con-
tribution of energy from nuclear plants was 1.6% (MME 2007). Regarding the
evolution of the fuel shares in the DES during the 1970-2006 period, the main ob-
servations are a strong decrease in the use of traditional biomass (firewood and
charcoal), a significant increase of the weight of sugarcane products, and the
maintenance of importance of fossil fuels. As for the Final Energy Consumption,
in 2006 it amounted to 202.9 Mtoe, corresponding to 89.7% of the DES (i.e. losses
amounted to 10.3%), around 3.3 times the 1970 level. The industrial, transport and
residential sectors, with 38%, 26% and 11% respectively, accounted for 75% of
the total (MME 2007). The high share attributed to the industrial sector is mainly
due to the existence of energy-intensive industries in the country (e.g. steel, ferro-
alloys, aluminium, non-ferrous metals, pelletization, and pulp and paper sectors)
(IAEA 2006).
As for dependency on overall energy imports, Brazil managed to reduce them
from about 45% in 1979 to a mere 8% in 2006. The remarkable expansion of Bra-
zil's domestic oil production allowed a dramatic decrease of oil imports over the
past two decades, falling from 80% in 1980 to 45% in 1990, 25% in 2000, and 0%
(self-sufficiency) since 2005 (MME 2007).
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