Energy

     Energy is the key to success in a modern economy. Brazil is the most important country in Latin America, but it is short of fossil fuel resources, so it has concentrated on hydroelectric and nuclear power. The Economist recently (11/20) ran an important technical article on the subject, so we asked Also da Rosa, A Brazilian and a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford, to comment on the subject:
     Brazil is a poor country, its economy being roughly one twentieth of the American one, while the population is up to 2/3 of that in the USA. Thus, the per capita income is modest. Between 1950 and 1981, the growth of the electrical energy installed capacity was exponential---a hefty 10.7% per year, well ahead of the growth in the GNP. A good deal of the Brazilian foreign debt went for the installation of hydroelectric plants. Since 1982 the growth has slowed down somewhat. 1.5 GW were added every year. (1.5 GW is somewhat more than the capacity of the largest thermoelectric or nuclear plants in the US). This program, although small by American standards, is a major effort for Brazil.
     As of January 1, 1998 (the most recent data available from the DOE) the US had a total of 753 GW installed while Brazil had only 64. The mix of the primary energy sources is, however, very different in the two countries. In the US, 73% of the electricity comes from (polluting) fossil fuels, 14% from (dangerous) nuclear reactors and 12% from hydroelectric plants. Less than 1% comes from other renewable sources. In Brazil, 10% comes from fossil fuels and 90% from hydroelectrics. The total installed capacity of hydroelectric energy in Brazil is nearly 80% of that in the States. Thus Brazilian electric power (although inadequate) is ecologically less offensive.
     Brazilian efforts to harness the energy of flowing water led to the creation of the world's largest hydroelectric plant (Itaipu) with 12.6 GW. Second largest is the Grand Coulee plant, in Washington, that will eventually reach slightly more tan 10 GW. Of the 30 largest plants in the world, 8 are in Brazil and 1 in the USA. Building so many large hydroelectric installations has allowed Brazil to develop its know-how in this area with the result that Brazilian firms have landed sizeable foreign contracts that contribute substantially to the improvement of the Brazilian trade balance But it is not only in the field of civil engineering that the Brazilian experience in building hydroelectric plants has paid off internationally. China is building, at Three Gorges, a hydroelectric plant that will greatly exceed Itaipu in its capacity (18.5 GW). Of the 14 turbines to be installed in the first phase of the project, 6 are being built in Brazil.
     To face the possible energy shortfall, Brazil is increasing its fossil fueled plants. The was majority of these thermoelectric installations will use natural gas, vastly less polluting than the coal that fuels 60% of the thermoelectric generators in the US. In this sense, Brazil has been blessed by the almost complete absence of coal in its territory.
     The USA leads the world in installed nuclear capacity (107 GW) whereas France has only 60 GW and Japan 42. Brazil has, at the moment, 0.6 GW. It is unfortunate that the nuclear program in Brazil, which many of us thought safely dead, is being revived. But that is another story, Yet another story is the use of pure alcohol as fuel for automobiles in Brazil. This has been a long effort that deserves much more space to discuss than is available here. Suffice it to say, that the use of ethanol does contribute exactly zero to the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, in sharp contrast with the use of gasoline.


     My comment: It is interesting that Aldo is strongly in favor of hydroelectric power and proud of Brazil's achievements in the field. This was the mentality of the United States when the Hoover and Grand Coulee dams were built. Since then ecologists have gone mad in the United States in their denunciation of such dams. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt recently said that he hoped to be the first such secretary of destroy a big dam. If a dam were created by a landslide or a mob of beavers, it would be hailed as a natural beauty, but it man does it, these nature-worshipping misanthropists howl. They will tolerate a series of small dams, so long as they do not spoil the white waters. There is the problem of fish, although the large man-created lakes can support an abundance of them.
     The benefits of dams greatly outweigh their disadvantages. A dam created the Crystal Springs Lake in the coastal range where I now sit. The lake provides San Francisco with fresh water and is a site of unusual beauty. Of course at the time the dam was built there were howls of protest. Some congenitally frustrated protest against all human activity.

Ronald Hilton - 12/10/99