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Recognizing the need to increase energy efficiency across various sectors of the economy, the Brazilian government through the national energy efficiency plan (adopted in 2011) seeks to avoid 30 million tons of CO2 emissions through a reduction in electricity consumption of about 10% by 2030. Notwithstanding, we believe that a complete realization of such initiative will be dependent on the level of substitutability between different production factors and fuel types. Using the translog production function method, this paper, first provides insight on the economic impact of both factor and fuel inputs in Brazil. Most importantly, we examine the possibility of substitution among capital, labor, petroleum, and electricity. The ridge regression technique was used to estimate the parameters after our data depicted the existence of multicollinearity. Our results show that capital and labor are positively linked to output; however, petroleum and electricity contribute negatively to economic output in Brazil of which corruption is a plausible reason. Again, all variable inputs are substitutes with their relative technological progress depicting features of convergence. This implies that Brazil can achieve a cleaner energy system without much challenges due to the possibility of switching from greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting petroleum to a cleaner energy electricity. Our findings also highlight the importance of policies that advance merger of enterprises, and renewable energy use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the environmental impacts of a refrigerator recycling system in Brazil and quantifies its ecological advantages over primary resource production through a Life Cycle Assessment based on ISO 14040. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) accounts for savings of 720 kg CO 2 -eq per recycled refrigerator on average, thus demonstrating that an environmentally sound recycling process holds substantial emission reduction potential. In addition, the application of the recycling process in conjunction with collection and reverse logistics of refrigerators in a recycling system can reduce energy demand in Brazil by an average of 1.5 GJ per recycled unit. As a result, refrigerator recycling systems qualify as a valid and scalable energy efficiency measure in accordance with the Brazilian national framework for the evaluation of energy efficiency projects (PROPEE). The energy economics for projects based on recycling systems are shown for the 30 largest energy distributors in Brazil. Available budgets, calculated with diagnostics undertaken in conformity with the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP) for a threshold value (cost-benefit ratio = 0.8), clearly indicate the viability and competitiveness of these recycling systems as project opportunities for energy conservation under the national energy regulation agency ANEEL's energy efficiency program (PEE). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Brazilian government has started up a large social housing program for low-income families. Considering the large investment for this program, it is important to analyse the environmental impact to create a base for further improvement assessment. The goal of this paper is to visualise the energy use (embodied and operational) during the life cycle of case study for a house in the social housing program. The case study showed that the embodied energy (EE) is 7.2GJ/m2 or 30% of the total energy from the life cycle, the operational energy is 17.5GJ/m2. Half of the Embodied Energy is due to material use for maintenance and around 57% of the embodied energy is used in the wall construction. Compared to other international studies (5.8GJ/m2 per 50 years), the embodied energy is relative high (7.2GJ/m2 per 50 years) whereas the operational energy is only the half (17.5 compared to 36GJ/m2 per 50 year). The study indicates that the largest improvement potential for reducing the embodied energy is connected to the walls trough choosing materials and systems with less Embodied Energy and higher durability to decrease the need for maintenance and substitution of materials. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The red ceramic industry in Brazil, consisting of over 7000 companies, requires large amounts of thermal energy, currently being met mainly by native fuelwood, which causes serious deforestation and soil erosion problems. The use of firewood does not allow achieving good energy performance in industrial ceramic kilns, causing high energy losses, low productivity and low quality products (bricks and roof tiles). Thus, to implement higher added value products, besides mitigate environmental problems caused by deforestation, the use of natural gas by the sector seems to be a promising alternative. Brazil’s natural gas market has grown at a fast pace in recent years. Its share in the country’s primary energy consumption increased from 3.7% to 9.3% between 1998 and 2007, compared to almost 21% in the world. The development of the Brazilian natural gas industry was grounded on stepping up supplies through integration with Bolivia from where natural gas is imported, together with fiscal incentives for promoting the demand. This paper estimates that the natural gas market that could be developed in the Brazilian red ceramic industry corresponds to less than 5% of the total industrial natural gas consumption, meaning that a major technological transformation of the country’s red ceramic industry will not severely affect the natural gas market equilibrium, contributing to reduce the country’s high rates of deforestation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Most European countries have committed to ambitious emissions reduction goals. Energy generation in particular is responsible for more than 30% of global emissions, where significant focus has been placed on renewable energy generation, including biomass. On the one hand, there are countries, like the UK, where the biomass stock is insufficient to meet the demand; on the other hand, there are countries, like Brazil, where the stock significantly exceeds the demand. To promote a natural symbiosis, it is necessary to take on the challenge of transporting biomass through long distances in an environmentally and economically efficient manner. This paper aims to assess the efficiency of alternative pathways of international biomass supply-chains. The alternatives involve different biomass origin regions, transportation modes, export ports and processing technologies, including torrefaction. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has been used for the first time to assess the efficiency of the alternative biomass supply chain pathways in a Latin American context, considering multiple-criteria relating to economic and environmental performance simultaneously, such as the biomass delivered cost, the environmental impact and the fossil energy consumption. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis was performed to analyse the robustness of the results under uncertainty in parameter values. The DEA approach presented can assist the process of planning biomass sourcing and improve decision-making under multiple decision criteria. The results can support medium- and long-term strategic decisions for decision- and policy-makers. • Efficiency assessment of biomass supply chain pathways between Brazil and the UK. • 56 alternative pathways considered with different supply chain structure. • Data Envelopment Analysis used for multi-criteria efficiency assessment. • Results can support decision and policy making. • Trade-offs between different criteria identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]