Brazil energy proposal said to contradict Poznan promises

By: Natalia Viana Rodrigues on January 15th, 2009

The Brazilian National Energy Plan for 2008-2017, recently published by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, did not please environmentalists and NGOs. The project aims at increasing the energy capacity from 99.7 thousand megawatts to 154.7 thousand megawatts. But environmentalists claim it champions dirty technologies over clear and renewable ones.

According to the plan, the share of hydropower will decrease if the plan comes true: from 85.9% to 75.9% of the total.

On top of that, says Greenpeace Brazil director Marcelo Furtado, the fact that there is no mention to energy efficiency in the plan is emblematic “The plan ignores the advantages of reducing consumption or enhancing efficiency in the energy sector.”

But the main problem, according to activists, is the expansion of the thermo-electric sector. According to the plan 81 new thermo-electric plants are to be built in the period – more than half of them in the northeasternern states. They will be fuelled mostly by oil and diesel, but four of them, to be built in the south of the country, will be coal-fuelled.

Together these new power plants will emit 39.3 million tonnes of carbon per year – a 172% increase over current emissions from the sector.

Many activists claim the proposed plan conflicts with measures announced at the UN Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland, to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation.

The Brazilian National Climate Plan foresees a 70% reduction in deforestation in the Amazon by 2018.

Marcelo Furtado calls the governmental policies “schizophrenic”: “While the government made noise in Poznan by adopting targets to reduce deforestation, it now announces an increase in emissions. It’s a Greek present for the Brazilian population.”

Former Environment Minister and activist Marina da Silva believes the National Plan contradicts the National Climate Plan announced in Poznan. The increase in thermo-electric plants could mean a threefold carbon emission in only a few years. For Marina Silva, that would harm efforts announced by the Brazilian Minister of the Environment Carlos Minc at the UN Conference – such as an increase in the use of ethanol.

Last year Greenpeace published the report “Energetic (R)Evolution” with suggestions for clean and renewable energy in Brazil. The report claims such energies could account for about 88% of the total, with wind power providing a big share.

But the National Energy Plan foresees timid investments in the sector, with an increase from 0.3% of the total to 0.9%, ignoring a huge potential according to the organization.

Some critics also call the whole process obscure. The plan was officially launched on December 24 and is open for consultation until the end of January. Organizations such as Instituto Socio-Ambiental (ISA) claim that a wider consultation, and more time, is needed to make it more democratic. Together with other NGOs, they have filed a request for a revision of the deadline.