Title: Global warming and transport in Brazil - ethanol alternative

Authors: Suzana Kahn Ribeiro, Pauline Staib Younes-Ibrahim

Addresses: PET/COPPE/UFRJ, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Transport Engineering Program, Centro de Tecnologia, Bloco H sala H111, Ilha do Fundao, CEP 21945-970, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. PET/COPPE/UFRJ, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Transport Engineering Program, Centro de Tecnologia, Bloco H sala H111, Ilha do Fundao, CEP 21945-970, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract: This paper deals with the risk of global warming as intensified by the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions of the transport sector, particularly in gasoline-powered vehicles in Brazil. Car ownership and use are increasing rapidly partly because of very poor public transport quality, which, in turn, is causing higher emission levels of CO₂. In this connection, the use of ethanol in Brazil for the transport sector may prove to be an important alternative, furthering the efforts to stabilise the actual level of gases in the atmosphere. The energy derived from biomass, and in this case, from a renewable, ||clean|| source, i.e., from sugar-cane, has the unquestionable advantage of permitting the almost complete reabsorption of CO₂ emitted through the combustion of fuel alcohol. This closed cycle allows, in principle, the increase of the energy supply, essential for economic development, with fewer hazards to the environment.

Keywords: global warming; air pollution; ethanol; transport.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2001.001957

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2001 Vol.27 No.1/2/3/4, pp.118-128

Published online: 15 Aug 2003 *

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