Sergio Abranches
The Amazon hydropower work site at the Jirau dam, in the state o Rondonia, Northern Brazil, has been occupied by the military of the National Guard after 22,000 workers rebelled against poor work conditions. The works at its sibling Santo Antonio dam have stopped due to a sequence of 16,000 workers’ strikes. They are very controversial projects on all counts, but the government has remained aloof to the environmentalists’ criticism, to negative technical appraisals, and even to the skepticism of many investors.
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Sergio Abranches
Brazil has been championing biofuels and “flex fuel” engines for some time and for good reasons. Flex fuel engines run on any possible combination of ethanol and gasoline. Since all gasoline in Brazil has 25% of ethanol, flex fuel engines can run on any mix of ethanol and gasoline, beginning at 25% to 75%, up to 100% ethanol. More »
Sergio Abranches
Every delegate is saying the same words here in Cancun. All press briefings and all plenary statements include the same set of keywords to login into the general conversation: balanced package, compromise, transparency. But the deal is depending on the words that have not been said. Unsaid words have become the core password to an agreement. More »
Sérgio Abranches
The election of Dilma Rousseff, Lula’s personal pick and former top aide, as next President of Brazil will trigger several important political shifts in the country.
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Sergio Abranches
Canadá and Brazil have plenty of fresh water. More than most parts of the world. Brazilian waters are on aquifers, the Guarani aquifer being the largest; and on rivers.
A lot of it, we now know, is also over the Amazon Forest canopy, like flying rivers, formed by humid air currents and clouds. The flow of the flying rivers rival the flow of the huge Amazon rivers. Researchers from the University of the State of Pará have recently found a huge aquifer under the States of Amazonas, Pará and Amapá, in the Amazon region. It may contain as much as 86,000 cubic Km of water. The Amazon is an extraordinary reservoir of water and humidity, about 15% of total world fresh water.
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Sergio Abranches
How can a supposedly communist legislator champion the interests of traditional landowners, and seek amnesty to illegal logging, often associated with violent land-grabbing and force-labor? The Brazilian House is right now discussing a bill proposing changes in the Forestry Code Law that does exactly that. The proposal under discussion was drafted by communist deputy Aldo Rebelo, a former Speaker of the House during President Lula’s first term in office. More »
