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Abstract The Brazilian electricity system is an important example of a large country relying on a high renewable energy matrix with a major focus on hydropower, which has historically allowed for low carbon electricity production. However, the increase in the demand and climate change impacts on the availability of these renewable resources represent important challenges for long-term power planning. The contribution of this paper is twofold: Firstly, a first attempt to use the EnergyPLAN model for the analysis of the Brazilian electricity sector and in particular to study future scenarios is presented. Secondly, the possibility of achieving a 100% RES system is also addressed. The 100% RES scenario is found to be theoretically possible but a substantial increase in the overall installed capacity would be required, to support the grid mainly during the spring and summer season. The results underline the importance of seasonal complementarity of hydro and wind power and reveal how an increase in RES would add exportation potential, reducing also the Brazilian external energy dependency. The study identifies risk factors for these high RES scenarios and outlines several avenues for future research to address cost, environmental and technical uncertainties of the system. Highlights • The Brazilian power sector is analysed with EnergyPLAN computer model. • Renewable scenarios are compared for technical, cost, emissions and risk parameters. • The importance of seasonal complementarity of hydro and wind power is outlined. • The 100% RES scenario results in full decarbonization of the system at higher cost. • The 100% RES scenario results in higher exportation and lower importation potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stabilization at concentrations consistent with keeping global warming below 2 °C above the pre-industrial level will require drastic cuts in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions during the first half of the century; net negative emissions approaching 2100 are required in the vast majority of current emission scenarios. For negative emissions, the focus has been on bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), where carbon-neutral bioenergy would be combined with additional carbon capture thus yielding emissions lower than zero. Different BECCS technologies are considered around the world and one option that deserves special attention applies CCS to ethanol production. It is currently possible to eliminate 27.7 million tonnes (Mt) of CO 2 emissions per year through capture and storage of CO 2 released during fermentation, which is part of sugar cane-based ethanol production in Brazil. Thus, BECCS could reduce the country’s emissions from energy production by roughly 5%. Such emissions are additional to those due to the substitution of biomass-based electricity for fossil-fueled power plants. This paper assesses the potential and cost effectiveness of negative emissions in the joint production system of ethanol and electricity based on sugar cane, bagasse, and other residues in Brazil. An important benefit is that CO 2 can be captured twice along the proposed BECCS supply chain (once during fermentation and once during electricity generation). This study only considers BECCS from fermentation because capturing such CO 2 is straightforward, thus potentially representing a cost-effective mitigation option for Brazil compared to other alternatives. The assessment shows that fuel prices would increase by less than 3.5% due to the adoption of BECCS from fermentation, while increasing investors’ revenues are sufficient to compensate for the investment required. With appropriate government subsidies, or by sharing BECCS costs between all car fuels and all electricity supplied by hydro and bioelectricity, the increment in ethanol and electricity prices could be less than 1% for the final consumer. Meanwhile it would supply 77.3% of all cars’ fuel (private cars) and 17.9% of all electricity in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydropower is the backbone of the Brazilian electricity generation sector. Even though the use of this resource is advantaged in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, last years׳ severe droughts have exposed the country׳s huge dependency on hydroelectricity. Brazil׳s electricity supply system has shown to be vulnerable to electricity shortages and has demanded significant overhaul in order to address its challenges. The present paper provides a comprehensive review of the current status of the Brazilian electricity sector and discusses diversification of electricity generation mix as a strategy to improve electricity supply security in the country. An overview of the main features of the energy sources applied in Brazil is also presented through a review of the latest available generation data. The central section of this work is a discussion of the main causes of the current crisis and the future role of renewable energy sources in a 10-year perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key objective of this paper is to analyze the techno-economic feasibility of this alternative for the Brazilian municipalities, classified according to population subgroups, using this parameter as a basis for the calculation of the municipal solid waste generated, the project costs and revenues. Different expenses were taken into consideration, like equipments and installation costs, operation and maintenance costs and the interest rate of the investment. In relation to revenues, they come from of the sale of electricity, the incomes of the recyclable materials, the fees paid by the Brazilian municipalities for the disposal of municipal solid waste in sanitary landfills and incomes by the carbon credits. An analysis of each population subgroup, combining three different economical scenarios was done, with an annual rate of interests of 10.58% for Scenario 1, 7.5% for Scenario 2 and 15% for Scenario 3. The economic feasibility was evaluated using as economic indicators the net present value and the internal rate of return. The net present value was positive for the municipalities with more than 60,714 inhabitants for the Scenario 1, 34,203 for Scenario 2 and 259,845 for Scenario 3. A hypothetic gasification plant is capable to generate 905 kW/ton municipal solid waste for a population of 60,714 inhabitants (Scenario 1), 794 kW/ton municipal solid waste for a population of 34,203 inhabitants (Scenario 2) and 1065 kW/ton municipal solid waste for a population of 259,845 inhabitants (Scenario 3). It is concluded that the economic feasibility increases with the installation of bigger units, showing a positive scale up gains, therefore as higher the capacity of the installation lower the specific costs and higher are the benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper aims to identify and quantify the main potential environmental impacts of the sugarcane bagasse electricity generation in Brazil. To do so, it was employed the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) technique based on primary and secondary data from three previous studies encompassing electricity generation, transmission and distribution processes. It was identified that the main impact potentials of this type of electricity generation in Brazil that should be addressed by decision-makers are the photochemical ozone, the human toxicity via soil and the nutrient enrichment ones, which are caused mainly by the sugarcane straw burning prior harvesting and the chemical application. In addition, it was found that non-renewable resources, renewable resources and energy consumption are also important issues that should be addressed mostly in the process of electricity transmission. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The growing demand for electrical power and the limited capital invested to provide this power is forcing countries like Brazil to search for new alternatives for electrical power generation. The purpose of this paper is to present a technical and economic study on a 15kW solar plant installed in an isolated community, highlighting the importance of the need for financial subsidy from the government. It evaluates the importance of parameters such as the annual interest rate, specific investment, the marginal cost of expanding the electrical power supply and the government subsidy on amortization time of capital invested. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]