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Thelma Krug, Secretary of Climate Change and Environmental Quality, Brazilian Ministry of the Environment

This article looks at the efforts made in Brazil to prevent climate change. These include originating the Clean Development Mechanism, the use of hydropower and the production of biofuels, namely bioethanol and biodiesel.

THE CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM

The Clean Development Mechanism originated from a proposal by Brazil during the Kyoto Protocol negotiations in 1997 to ensure the participation of developing countries in helping Annex I Parties to achieve their emission reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. Proposed originally as a Clean Development Fund that would be replenished every time an Annex I country did not fulfill its emission reduction commitment, the Clean Development Mechanism was finally agreed as part of the three mechanisms of the Protocol, along with emissions trading and Joint Implementation.

Brazil occupies third position relative to the total amount of greenhouse gas emission reduction achieved by all participating non-Annex I Parties in the Clean Development Mechanism in the first commitment period. Annual emission reductions of the order of 35 Gg of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) are expected during this period, corresponding to roughly 2.5 per cent of the total CO2e emissions from Brazil in 1994.
By the end of October 2007, the total number of project activities in the Clean Development system totalled 2,618. Of these, 251 were from Brazil, third after China and India, which, taken together, accounted for approximately 61 per cent of the CDM projects activities (1,608).

The two most relevant gases in the Brazilian CDM project activities are carbon dioxide (65 per cent) and methane (35 per cent). Emission reductions are achieved mostly through electricity generation projects, corresponding to approximately 60 per cent of the total project activities in Brazil, distributed as follows:

• Biomass cogeneration, 54 per cent.
• Small hydro plants, 16 per cent.
• Wind energy, 13 per cent.
• Hydroelectric power plants, 12 per cent.
• Biogas, five per cent.
  

Two other sectors, in addition to the energy sector, are also relevant to the emission reduction efforts in Brazil: agriculture, through methane emission reduction from waste handling, and disposals in pig farming and landfill.

The CDM is viewed as part of a broader effort that encompasses not only the traditional and long term investments in renewable energy, including hydro plants for electricity generation and the use of biomass to generate fuel for vehicles and small aircrafts but,  most importantly, actions and policies to combat illegal deforestation, in particular in the Brazilian Amazon.

Unfortunately, the distribution of CDM project activities among non-Annex I Parties has, until now, been far from equitable, with some regions benefiting much more than others. Nonetheless, one has to bear in mind that the CDM was conceived as a market based stimulus for mitigation projects, regardless of the geographical balance. Eligibility constraints also influence the geographical distribution of the CDM, particularly in Africa.

China alone will account for than half of the expected emission reduction certificates in the first commitment period, followed by India. The leadership of China can  partly be explained by the opportunity to develop specific projects that generate a large volume of carbon credits at a reasonably low cost, such as the reduction of hydrofluorcarbon 23 (HFC23) production.

HYDROELECTRIC GENERATION

Eighty-five per cent of the electricity generated in Brazil comes from hydroelectric sources, which is natural for a country with an estimated total water availability of 257,790 m3/s. Out of the 403 TWh  electricity generated in Brazil in 2005, nearly 84 per cent comes from hydroelectric plants, indicating the outstanding share of this source in electrical energy generation. The remaining is distributed among other sources, including renewables, natural gas, oil, nuclear and coal.

THE NATIONAL ETHANOL PROGRAM – PROALCOOL

The National Ethanol Program was created in 1973, triggered by the first petroleum crisis. By then, the country had already more than 40 years of research in blending ethanol with gasoline for transportation purposes.

Substantial investments in R&D were provided by the government until in 1979 the first vehicle fuelled with 100 per cent hydrated ethanol was introduced in the market, completely replacing the use of gasoline. In order to guarantee the establishment of the ethanol industry, the government implemented a set of policies that ranged from provision of incentives to producers, through guarantee of payment and credit facilities to increase production, lowered price of the ethanol relative to gasoline, provision of tax incentives for ethanol fuelled cars, requiring ethanol pumps in all petrol stations and maintenance of safety stocks.

Results from research indicate that on a well to wheel basis, the use of the non-hydrated ethanol from sugarcane produced in Brazil avoided the emission of nearly 2.7 kg CO2 per litre of ethanol used to replace gasoline. This results from a number of measures that include:

• Investments in R&D to increase productivity.
• Intensive use of sugarcane residues to generate energy (co-generation).
• Use of the vinhoto (residue from the distillation process) as organic fertiliser in agriculture.
• Use of residues in the manufacture of biodegradable plastic and recycled paper production.
• Use of hydrated sugarcane bagasse as animal feed.

In addition to a number of co-benefits of replacing gasoline with hydrated ethanol in light vehicles, it is estimated that a total of 644 million tonnes of CO2 were not emitted to the atmosphere during the period 1975 – 2005. This achievement has been acknowledged by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which also refers to the introduction of flex-fuel vehicles in Brazil in 2003. This is expected to bring new impetus to ethanol use in transportation in Brazil due to their ability to run using any mixture of gasoline and ethanol as motor fuel. Sales of flex-fuel vehicles have increased since then to a level where they represented more than 75 per cent of the total number of cars sold in 2006.

Sugarcane production

Most Brazilian sugarcane production concentrates in Brazil’s southeastern region (69 per cent), and its potential for expansion has raised several concerns regarding the potential impact on food security and pressure on forested land. Forests, including plantations, currently occupy around 464 million hectares while presently the sugarcane crop occupies approximately six million hectares, half of which is used for ethanol production. This represents less than one per cent of Brazil’s national territory and less than 10 per cent of its total cultivated area. Brazil anticipates expansion of the sugarcane crop by an additional two million hectares, to ensure production of an additional eight billion litres of ethanol. Consistent investments in technological advances in cattle breeding are expected to reduce around 20 million hectares of pasture land.

THE NATIONAL PROGRAM FOR BIODIESEL PRODUCTION AND USE

The Biodiesel program was launched in 2004 to promote the introduction of biodiesel in the Brazilian energy matrix in a sustainable way: to ensure diversification of renewable sources of energy; to improve energy security; and reduce environmental impacts. The Program targets poor regions in the country, in particular the semi-arid and northeast regions, seeking to reduce regional inequalities. Specific policies, financing and technical assistance are provided to producers, as well as a flexible legislation which leave producers to choose the most appropriate raw materials to generate the biodiesel, eg palm oil, castor bean, soybeans, cotton, peanut etc. The Biodiesel Program is above all a social programme, with a strong focus on the sustainable development of the poorest regions in the country. 
Since 2005, Brazilian legislation allows for the mix of two per cent biodiesel in mineral diesel in some types of engines. This mix will be mandatory by 2008, with an increased five per cent by 2013. The addition of two per cent biodiesel  requires an annual supply of 800 million litres per year, whereas the amount needed for the five per cent mix is 2.1 billion litres per year. Presently, authorised production amounts to 1.6 billion litres per year, using 35 different plants. Around 5,000 petrol stations in Brazil sell biodiesel.

RENEWABLE CHARCOAL IN IRON AND STEEL PRODUCTION

Unlike most iron and steel production in the world which is heavily based on the use of coal coke as a reducing agent for the iron ore, in Brazil, most of the charcoal produced (85 per cent) is used in the iron and steel industry.

The production of charcoal from non-renewable biomass (native forests) was partially replaced in the 1940s by the introduction of coal coke. However, import restrictions in the 1960s, coupled with fiscal incentives to produce charcoal from planted forests, encouraged producers to invest heavily in energy plantations (normally eucalyptus and pinus) to meet the demand of the steel and iron industry. By the late 1980s, the fiscal incentives to plant were removed and producers were forced to reduce or abandon their charcoal production. The market opened again for imports and the use of coal coke was prioritised due to both availability and lower cost compared to that of charcoal from planted forests. 

Presently, there is not enough charcoal from renewable biomass to meet the demand of the steel and iron industry. Hence, part of the charcoal used originates from non-renewable sources, such as wood from native trees in both forest and cerrado areas.

There is a genuine concern that, without additional investments, producers will not be able to meet the present and future demand of renewable charcoal for the steel and iron industry in the country. Investors from the private sector have sought the use of the Clean Development Mechanism as a means to provide the additional revenues needed to increase production, but were faced with a number of barriers. While many viewed the replacement of non-renewable biomass by renewable biomass as a process similar to the replacement of a non-renewable fuel source by a renewable one (such as replacing petrol by ethanol in transportation), many others understood that the emission reduction claimed would be associated with avoided deforestation, an activity which is not eligible under the CDM for the first commitment period.

Without pre-judging the results of negotiations for the post-2012 regime, it seems unlikely that avoided deforestation will be eligible under the CDM, since the concerns that led to its exclusion in the first commitment period are still valid today.

REDUCED EMISSIONS FROM DEFORESTATION IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZONIA

The land-use change and forestry sector is the sector that contributes the most for the total CO2 emissions in the country. In the period 1990 – 1994, the sector was responsible for approximately 75% of the total CO2 emissions in the country, most of which was associated with the conversion of primary forests to other land uses, in particular cattle ranching and agriculture. It is unlikely that this contribution has changed drastically since.

As a response to the high rate of deforestation in 2004, the Brazilian government implemented an Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Amazon. The Plan introduced novel elements to tackle deforestation in the Amazonia region, engaging more than a dozen Ministries directly or indirectly involved in the issue, thus allowing deforestation to be tackled in an integrated manner.   
The actions established in the Plan started to be implemented in 2004, and results have already been achieved in the following two years, with a significant reduction of the rate of deforestation and, hence, of the related CO2 emissions. Assuming that the annual rate of deforestation would follow the trend of the three years prior to the implementation of the Plan,  with a mean rate of gross deforestation of 2,463,000 hectares per year, the reduction observed in 2005 and 2006 corresponds to a reduction of emissions of more than 500 million tonnes of CO2, assuming a mean carbon stock in aboveground biomass equal to 90 tonnes of carbon per hectare.

Out of the 403 TWh  electricity generated in Brazil in 2005, nearly 84 per cent comes from hydroelectric plants

Author

Thelma Krug is presently the state secretary of the recently created Secretary on Climate Change and Environmental Quality of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Brazil. She co-chairs the Task Force on National Inventories of Greenhouse Gas of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and is a member of the IPCC Bureau. For many years she has been the general coordinator in the Earth Observation Coordination at the National Institute for Space Research, from the Ministry of Science and Technology. She has been deputy secretary in the Secretary of Policies and Programs in Science and Technology from the Ministry of Science and Technology, before joining the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Studies – IAI, as a visiting researcher. Her background is in mathematics, with a PhD on spatial statistics.

Organisation

The Brazilian Ministry of the Environment has competence in the following issues: the national environmental and water resources policy; preservation, conservation and sustainable use of the ecosystems, biodiversity and forests; development of strategies and economic and social tools to improve the quality of the environment and the sustainable use of the natural resources; policies for the integration of environment and production; environmental policies and programs for Amazonia; and ecological economic zoning. The Secretary has three Coordinations: one for Climate Change, another for Environmental Quality, and a third one on environmental licensing and environmental evaluation.

Enquiries

Thelma Krug
Secretária de Mudanças Climáticas e Qualidade Ambiental, Ministério do Meio Ambiente
Tel: +55 61.3317-1230Fax: +55 61.3317-1760
E-mail: