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Among the world's three largest developing countries, China, India, and Brazil, Brazil has a better chance to comply with the Kyoto Protocol, which went into effect yesterday and determines reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
This judgment comes from the president of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Haroldo Mattos de Lemos.
In his opinion, Brazil has to face up to two problems: deforestation in the Amazon and burnings, which send a huge amount of toxic gases into the atmosphere.
On the other hand, Brazil is almost the only place in the world in which a part of the country's vehicles run on alcohol, a fuel that doesn't produce toxic emissions, he recalled.
Lemos also pointed out that Brazil's gasoline contains a 25% alcohol mixture, which means a big reduction in the volume of fossil fuel that is consumed.
This represents a significant reduction in toxic gas emissions that Brazil can chalk up. Another positive factor is that the country's energy matrix is basically made up of hydroelectric sources (around 80%), which have a much lesser impact in terms of the greenhouse effect than the consumption of fossil fuels in thermoelectric energy plants.
Translation: David Silberstein
Agência Brasil
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