José Roberto Moreira

The alcohol program

The rational for the launching of the Alcohol Program from sugarcane in Brazil in the mid-1970’s is described as an answer to the first “oil crisis” as well as a solution to the problem of the fluctuating sugar prices in the international market. The technical characteristics of ethanol as a fuel are given as well as a discussion of the evolution of the cost of production, environmental and social consequences. Regarding costs, ethanol production was close to 100 dollars a barrel in the initial stages of the Program in 1980 falling rapidly due to economies of scale and technological progress to half that value in 1990, followed by a slower decline in recent years. Considering the hard currency saved by avoiding oil importation through the significant displacement of gasoline by ethanol and the decrease in the amount of external debt that the displaced oil importation was able to provide it is possible to demonstrate that the Alcohol Program has been an efficient way of exchanging dollar debt by national currency subsidies which are paid by the liquid fossil fuel users. Even with this economic gains for society, the continuity of the Program is difficult to maintain. Two solutions to this problem are discussed: internal expansion of the use of ethanol and exports to industrialized countries where it could be used as an octane enhancer. The main attractiveness of the Program – the reduction of CO2 emissions as compared to fossil fuels – is stressed, mainly as a solution for industrialized countries to fulfill their commitments with the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention.

Potential market niches for biomass energy with CO2 capture and storage - Opportunities for energy supply with negative CO2 emissions

The paper presents an analysis of biomass energy with CO2 capture and storage (BECS) in industrial applications. Sugar cane-based ethanol mills and chemical pulp mills are identified as market niches with promising prospects for BECS. Calculations of CO2 balances of BECS in these applications show that the introduction of CO2 capture and storage in biomass energy systems can significantly increase the systems’ CO2 abatement potentials. CO2 emissions of the total systems are negative. The CO2 reduction potentials of these technologies are discussed in regional and global contexts. An economic assessment of each system is carried out and opportunities for cost-effective technologies for CO2 capture, transportation and storage are identified. Furthermore, potentials for system improvements that could substantially decrease the CO2 abatement cost are addressed.

Energy Balance for Ethyl Alcohol Production from Crops

Energy requirements to produce ethyl alcohol from three different crops in Brazil (sugarcane, cassava, and sweet sorghum) were calculated. Figures are presented for the agricultural and industrial phases. The industrial phase is always more energy-intensive, consuming from 60 to 75 percent of the total energy. Sugarcane is the more efficient crop for ethyl alcohol production, followed by sweet sorghum and cassava from a net energy viewpoint. The utilization of sweet sorghum stems might increase the total energy gain from this crop to almost the same level as sugarcane. Cassava has a lower energy gain at the present state of agriculture in Brazil.

Política energética no Brasil

ENERGIA e um ingrediente essencial para a vida na sociedade moderna. A ampliacao da infra-estrututa energetica do Brasil, tanto na sua producao como no consumo exigira grandes investimentos. Dai a necessidade da presenca do Governo no planejamento das atividades energeticas, que sao geralmente implementados pela iniciativa privada. Esta presenca e essencial para: 1. atender a demanda da sociedade por mais e melhores servicos de energia; 2. estimular a participacao de fontes energeticas sustentaveis e duradouras; 3. priorizar o uso eficiente da energia para liberar capital aos setores mais produtivos da economia e preservar o meio ambiente; 4. utilizar o investimento em energia como fonte de geracao de empregos e de estimulo a industria nacional; 5. incorporar a matriz energetica insumos importados quando isso resultar em vantagens comerciais e sociais ao pais, inclusive atraves da abertura de exportacao de produtos e servicos e, 6. produzir energia de diversas fontes, reduzindo o risco da eventual escassez de algumas delas de forma compativel com as reservas disponiveis no pais.

Electricity conservation in Brazil: Potential and progress

Electricity demand is growing rapidly in Brazil. More efficient use of electricity is cost effective, will reduce the need to construct costly new power plants, have positive environmental impacts, and provide other benefits. It is technically and economically feasible to reduce projected electricity consumption in 2000 by 20% through the purchase of more efficient motors, lighting equipment, appliances, etc. Many efficient end-use devices are already produced in Brazil and a national electricity conservation program was begun in 1985. While progress is being made, low electricity prices, lack of information and capital, limited institutional support, and other barriers to implementation still exist.

Brazilian Perspectives on Development of Clean Energy

The Brazilian energy system can be considered environmentally friendly due to the significant share of renewable energy sources. For the next decades, there are some concerns that renewable energy sources may lose market share if we trust official plans and the maintenance of unfair barriers created by environmental bodies on further medium and large hydroelectricity additions. Nevertheless, on one side, the highly anticipated progress in the use of bioenergy, small hydropower plants (SHP) and wind energy sources and on the other side, future commitments of the country in controlling its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions may demonstrate that in the near future, new and renewable energy sources should be able to guarantee that fossil fuel-based energy sources will not show the relative growth identified in the official planning programme (EPE 2008) extensively discussed in this chapter.

Oil palm deserves government attention in Brazil

Englund et al (2015 Environ. Res. Lett. 10 044002) have recently analyzed biodiesel production from oil palm plantations as one possible way to mitigate climate change while providing cost effective results. They show that data for detailed quantification of biological carbon sequestration is available allowing a high confidence evaluation of positive impacts when oil palm plantation for food and biodiesel production is carried out in degraded, cultivated soil, and also with some varieties of natural vegetation in the Amazon. Nevertheless, economic risk associated with the future price of fossil fuels and uncertainties related with carbon subsidy are barriers. Here we discuss the assumptions under which such controversial proposal is based and suggest further analysis for Brazilian decision makers.

USE OF ETHANOL IN DIESEL – CYCLE ENGINES

The global fuel option for urban public transport is diesel, a fossil source of energy which is produced from the fractional distillation of petroleum. The diesel fuel is the most important fuel in the Brazilian Automotive Energy Matrix, accounting for 51.2% of the total volume of fuel consumed in 2008, as shown in Figure 1. Other type of fuels, such as gasoline or ethanol, have not been commonly used in the urban public USE OF ETHANOL IN DIESEL – CYCLE ENGINES

Historical carbon budget of the Brazilian ethanol program

This work models the carbon neutralization capacity of Brazils ethanol program since 1975. In addition to biofuel, we also assessed the mitigation potential of other energy products, such as, bioelectricity, and CO2 emissions captured during fermentation of sugar canes juice. Finally, we projected the neutralization capacity of sugar canes bio-energy system over the next 32 years. The balance between several carbon stocks and flows was considered in the model, including the effects of land-use change. Our results show that the neutralization of the carbon released due to land-use change was attained only in 1992, and the maximum mitigation potential of the sugar cane sector was 128 tonnes of CO2 per ha in 2006, An ideal reconstitution of the deployment of the sugar cane sector, including the full exploitation of bio-electricitys potential, plus the capture of CO2 released during fermentation, shows that the neutralization of land-use change emissions would have been achieved in 1988, and its mitigation potential would have been 390 tC02/ha, Finally, forecasts of the sector up to 2039 shows that the mitigation potential in 2039 corresponds to 836 tC02/ha, which corresponds to 5.51 kg of CO2 per liter of ethanol produced, or 55% above the negative emission level.