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Fuel wood consumption in Brazilian residential sector, energy consumption in households and carbon footprint of
development in selected Brazilian regions, comparing Brazil and France
Suani Coelho, Frank Lecocq, Cristiane Cortez, Carine Barbier, Luis Gustavo Tudeschini
Address for correspondence
Institute of Energy and Environment, University of São Paulo
Av Professor Luciano Gualberto 1289, 05508-000 – São Paulo - Brazil
Tel: +55 11 3091-2591 – Fax: +55 11 3091-2653 – Email: suani@iee.usp.br
ABSTRACT: Transitions to “low-carbon” development paths with limited greenhouse gases emissions are unlikely to be
achievable solely via technological solutions: behavior, notably consumption patterns, will also have to evolve. ECOPA
project (Evolution of consumption patterns, economic convergence and carbon footprint of development. A comparison
Brazil – France), a joint project Brazil – France, aims at examining how is the link between income per capita and
consumption patterns; and at drawing implications of these findings for future emissions scenarios. ECOPA will compare
consumption patterns, and their evolution, in France and Brazil (industrialized vs emerging economy). Considering
households´ energy consumption in Brazil and the regional differences, it must be noted that there is still a significant fuel
wood consumption mainly in North and Northeast regions, despite the several programs already developed to reduce it.
Therefore, as a preliminary step in the context of ECOPA project, this paper aims to discuss the current situation of fuel
wood and energy consumption in households in Brazilian selected regions, as well as existing policies for replacement of fuel
wood such as the liquefied petroleum gas program.
Keywords: Bioenergy, Energy, Greenhouse gases, Households, Solid Biofuel, Wood.
1 INTRODUCTION
Brazil has a significant experience in replacing fuel
wood, mainly in North (remote villages in Amazonia)
and Northeast regions. In the past, the LPG (liquefied
petroleum gas) program commercialized all over the
country with high subsidies to make it affordable to poor
people contributed to reduce significantly the use of fuel
wood in households (22% less in 2012 compared with
2006), as discussed in [1].
Biomass consumption (traditional biomass) for
heating and cooking in DC countries is not sustainable,
since it relies on wood from deforestation [2, 3] and its
use present strong impacts on environment and health
due to pollutant emissions mainly indoor [4, 5, 6, 7,
among others].
The Brazilian experience with LPG (distributed even
in Amazon rainforest by boat) can be interesting, since
the existing fuel wood stoves have been replaced in most
households – or, in some cases, co-exist with LPG stoves
(to be used when LPG is not economically affordable for
the family) [8]. In Brazil in most households the fuel
currently used is LPG and distributed in a joint program
with private investors.
As discussed in [8], fuel wood consumption in
Brazilian households (mostly in North and Northeast) is
directly affected by policies for LPG prices and
distribution. When subsidies for LPG small bottles are
eliminated and prices rise, fuel wood consumption
increases in Brazilian households, In fact most
households in poor regions have two stoves. One is for
fuel wood and the other is for LPG. When there are funds
to buy the LPG bottles, people buy them instead of
traditional fuel wood. However, when LPG is too
expensive and people cannot afford to buy it, fuel wood
is again the fuel used. Considering that, adequate policies
must be in place to avoid it. Brazilian experience is
significant and can be used in other developing countries
to reduce household consumption of fuel wood both for
cooking and heating.
This paper discusses the current situation of fuel
wood and energy consumption in households in Brazilian
regions, comparing it to households’ energy consumption
as well as existing policies for replacement, as a
preliminary step of the first phase of the ECOPA project.
Discussion on fuel wood consumption in Brazilian
households (in some regions where there is fuel wood
consumption) is a basic tool to start the assessment on
households’ energy consumption and carbon footprint in
some regions in Brazil. Also a preliminary evaluation on
carbon emissions from these households is presented.
France, as an industrialized country, does not face
such difficulty and energy consumption in households
has a different profile, as being analyzed in the ECOPA
project. This is a specific issue for Brazil (particularly in
some regions).
This paper starts with a general overview on the past
LPG program (section 2) and the subsequent reduction in
fuel wood consumption in Brazil, followed by an analysis
on energy consumption in Brazilian households (section
3). Also a discussion on greenhouse emissions (a
preliminary analysis to evaluate carbon footprint) in this
Brazilian sector is presented in section 4. Finally, the
conclusion discusses the results presented and the need
for adequate policies.
2 LPG PROGRAM vs FUEL WOOD
CONSUMPTION IN HOUSEHOLDS IN BRAZIL
In Brazil fuel wood is mainly used in residential,
industrial and transformation sector (charcoal
production). In 2012, from the total 83,013 thousand
(metric) tons consumed in Brazil, residential
consumption was 20,879 thousand tons against 23,996
thousand tons in industrial sector and 30,021 thousand
tones for charcoal production. These figures show that
residential consumption is still significant in the country
[9]. Some 40 years ago, fuel wood and charcoal
represented more than 80% of the residential energy
consumption (as shown in Fig. 1), since most of the
cooking in rural areas and cities alike, leading to a
progressive deforestation near the more populated areas,
as discussed in [8].
Since then, LPG bottles (13 kg bottles) are distributed
by private companies all over the country and sold with
affordable prices (from the beginning of the LPG
program, in 1970 until 2002 they were subsidized), even
in Amazonian remote villages. These 13 kg bottles are
available in several specialized stores or distributed by
trucks or boats (in Amazonia). LPG delivery
infrastructure is highly developed in all regions,
including rural zones but since the subsidies LPG prices
have increased significantly.
In 1996 the share of Brazilian residential energy
consumption from fuel wood was equivalent to the
fraction using LPG, as showed in Fig. 1. In 2009, 5.88%
of urban population still owned traditional cook stoves
and 51.7% of rural used fuel wood for cooking [10].
Even though this high rate for poor population, urban or
rural, LPG cook stove is not the only means of cooking
because they keep wood fueled stove as a kind of back-
up in case they cannot afford to buy LPG [8].
LPG consumption has been rising from the middle of
last century until 2002 when the subsidy was removed.
As discussed previously by [8], by the end of 2002
Petrobras, the Brazilian state oil company, which imports
the LPG utilized in Brazil, transferred to the consumer
the international prices of the product.
In 2002 it was created a program named Auxílio-Gas
(literally ‘‘gas assistance’’, Decree 4102, 24 January
2002), which would transfer to low-income families
subsidies for residential LPG obtained from a tax. This
program existed until 2004, when the Federal
Government started the so called Bolsa Familia (literally
‘‘family scholarship’’, which has defined ‘‘the
unification of the procedures of management and
execution of income transfer of the Federal
Government’’) and defined that Auxilio-Gas would be
included in this new assistance (Law 10836, 9 Jan 2004)
[11] (1).
As show in Fig. 1, after this deregulation process the
LPG prices rises substantially and its consumption
decreased at same period wood fuel consumption started
to rise. However, even after the deregulation, Petrobras
(the main LPG producer and importer) try to maintain its
price despite the international market oscillations, given
that the main drive of LPG price variations among
Brazilian regions are (i) logistics transportation and (ii)
competition conditions on the retail market [12]. Due to
critical transport infrastructure and low level of
competition, LPG prices in North are usually 10 % higher
than in South and Southeast regions, and the combination
of this structure with the low average income can result
in intensification of fuel wood use.
From 2006, with the economic growth in the country,
LPG consumption started to increase again since the
residential use of traditional biomass has declined
significantly [8]. This inversion happened because the
residential use of fuel wood for cooking in traditional
wood stoves has dwindled over the years. This is due to
the growing urbanization (currently less than 20 per cent
of the Brazilian population lives in rural areas), to the rise
of population’s income, and mainly to the availability of
LPG. Turned out that, residential consumption of fuel
wood has declined from 53.5 percent of total biomass
consumption in 1970 to just 13.8 per cent in 2002.
Fig. 1 illustrates the historic evolution on LPG vs fuel
wood since 1970. It shows that the increase on fuel wood
consumption is directly related to LPG and so when LPG
consumption increases the use of fuel wood is reduced.
Figure 1: Fuel wood and LPG household consumption vs
LPG prices in Brazil [9, 13].
Fig. 1 shows the direct relationship between LPG
prices and fuel wood consumption in households in
Brazil. Even considering that these figures are for the
whole country (average), it must be considered that most
fuel wood consumption in households is in North and
Northeastern regions.
When LPG prices rise, LPG consumption decreases
and fuel wood consumption increase. It is also important
to note the significant increase on LPG prices since the
deregulation in 2002 (also including the elimination of
the subsidies).
3 ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN HOUSEHOLDS IN
BRAZIL
Energy consumption in Brazilian households includes
basically electricity and fuel wood/LPG for cooking,
since in most regions there is no need for heating (in
South Brazil states, there is some heating because of the
low temperatures but in most cases it is provided by
electric heating and this consumption is included in
electricity consumption by the households). Charcoal
consumption is relatively small according to the Fig. 2
since fuel wood and LPG are the main fuels used for
cooking.
Since fuel wood and LPG consumption were
discussed in section 2, this section will discuss mainly
electricity consumption in households.
As shown in Fig. 2, electricity consumption has
increased 1307% in the period 1970-2012, mainly
recently (since the 90´s) due to the several programs
developed by the Federal Government to increase energy
access, as discussed ahead.
This electricity consumption varies significantly
according to the regions. For example, in 2012, from the
total 117,646 GWh consumed by households in Brazil,
only 5.7% (6,764 GWh) was consumed in Northern
region, 18.2% (21,395 GWh) in Northeastern region,
7.8% (9,202 GWh) in Center West and 15.9% (18,690
GWh) in South Brazil, against 52.4% (61,595 GWh) in
Southeastern region [9]. These huge differences are due
not only to the higher population in Southern region but
also to the fact that in North region (mainly the Amazon
rainforest) the electricity supply is still quite difficult,
since it is decentralized in the so called Isolated System.
This (Northern) region covers an area corresponding
to 45% of Brazilian territory and only 3% of the
population (around 1.2 million households).
The supply in this Isolated System is provided by
small thermoelectric power plants using diesel oil while
in the other regions it is provided by the Interlinked
System, with long transmission lines and large power
plants (mostly hydroelectric power plants).
Figure 2: Energy consumption in Brazilian households.
[9]
As discussed in [1], the programs to increase
electricity access in Brazil were quite successful, with the
exception of the North region. In 2003, the LPT program
(Luz para Todos - Lighting for All) was established by
the Federal Government [14], mainly with the aim of
providing (free) electricity access for 10 million people in
rural areas in Brazil by 2008, since population in urban
areas had already 100% energy access.
In 2011, a new phase was established for the period
2011-2014 since the Census 2010 from IBGE [15] had
realized that there were still households without
electricity access mainly in Northern and Northeastern
regions [14].
In fact, there are still significant difficulties with the
electricity supply in these isolated and remote systems.
The isolated system had in 2008 more than 1,200
small power plants installed and operating with diesel
engines, with a total installed power of around 3,000 MW
[14].
These diesel fueled power plants are heavily
subsidized through a special policy - Conta Consumo de
Combustiveis - CCC (Fuel Account Consumption), since
diesel costs are high for remote villages not covered by
CCC, due to the high transportation costs by boat through
the rainforest (2).
In 2007 there were nine biomass power plants in
Amazonia and Para State with 22.05 MW installed. This
shows there is a large room for the replacement of diesel
engines, as well as to supply energy needs in the
remaining 3,733 villages not having electricity access (3)
In the current phase of the LPT program, focused
mainly on isolated regions, the challenge is significant,
considering the geographic conditions of more than 5,000
remote villages in Brazilian Amazon [17] – a huge
number considering the existing diesel plants [16].
These specificities of such regions must be taken into
account when discussing greenhouse gases emissions and
carbon footprint from households’ energy consumption in
Brazil, as discussed in the next section.
4 CARBON FOOTPRINT IN HOUSEHOLDS IN
BRAZIL
Aiming to evaluate the carbon footprint in
households’ energy consumption in Brazil, it is necessary
to start analyzing the carbon emissions from the energy
consumption in such households.
To evaluate carbon emissions, it must be taken into
account the emissions from LPG and fuel wood
consumption since most of this fuel wood comes from
deforestation and cannot be considered sustainable.
Based on the emissions factors presented on the
literature [18], carbon emissions for Brazilian households
in year 2012 were obtained and are showed in Tables I
and II.
Table I shows emissions from the different fuels
consumed for cooking in Brazilian households. Fuel
wood (and the other sources) corresponds to all
households’ consumption in the country, but fuel wood is
mainly consumed in North region.
Table I: Carbon emissions (CO2eq/year) in 2012 from
fuel consumption for cooking in Brazilian households
Sources
Fuel consumption
Carbon emissions
Factors
(t CO2eq
/TJ)
10³ t
CO2eq
(2012)
(%)
(TJ)
(%)
Natural gas
12,372
2%
56.2
696
1%
Fuel wood
270,987
47%
119.9
32,491
62%
LPG
267,673
47%
64.0
17,131
33%
Kerosene
189
0
72.3
14
0%
Gasworks
0
0
44.5
0
0%
Charcoal
20,015
4%
101.4
2,029
4%
Total
571,236
100%
52,360
100%
Source: Authors evaluation based on [18] and [9]
It is important to note the high share of carbon
emissions from fuel wood consumption in households
compared to other fuels used for cooking.
Scrutinizing electricity, we must analyze each region
separately, since in North region the electricity supply is
from diesel-fuelled generators and the rest of the country
the electricity supply is based on the Brazilian electric
sector mix.
In the case of the Brazilian electric sector, it will be
adopted the baseline for carbon emissions from the
Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology (0.0292 t
CO2eq/MWh) [19].
Table II shows carbon emissions from electricity
consumption in households and it must be evaluated
according to the region. Northern region corresponds to
the Isolated System where electricity supply is from
diesel engines and the other regions correspond to the
supply through the Interlinked System where the
electricity supply is mainly from hydroelectric origin
76.9% of the electricity supply in 2012, according to [9].
So, considering the different sources of electricity
supply according to each region, carbon emissions must
be divided into two categories
(i) The interlinked system (all regions except North
region), where carbon emissions are estimated in
0.0292 t CO2eq/MWh
(ii) The isolated system (North region), where
carbon emissions are estimated in 0.75 t CO2eq
/MWh
Table II: Carbon emissions (CO2eq/year) from electricity
consumption in Brazilian households in 2012
Regions
Electricity
consumption
(2012)
Carbon
emissions
factors
(t CO2eq/
MWh)
Total carbon
emissions
(GWh)
(%)
(t CO2eq
/yr) (2012)
(%)
North
6,764
6%
0.75
5,072
61%
Northeast
21,395
18%
0.0292
625
8%
Center West
9,202
8%
0.0292
269
3%
South
18,690
16%
0.0292
546
7%
Southeast
61,595
52%
0.0292
1,799
22%
Total
117,646
100%
8,311
100%
Source: Authors evaluation based on [9, 19, 20]
From the results in Table II, it is important to note the
high share of carbon emissions in North region (61%)
despite its small electricity consumption due to the use of
diesel oil in thermoelectric power plants.
5 CONCLUSIONS
This paper discussed the current situation of fuel
wood and energy consumption in households for the
different regions in Brazil as well as the policies for its
replacement, as a preliminary step in the context of
ECOPA project.
Such discussion is a basic tool for the assessment on
households’ energy consumption and carbon footprint in
some regions in Brazil.
France, as an industrialized country, presents energy
consumption in households with a different profile, as
being analyzed in the ECOPA project.
There are two main conclusions regarding energy
consumption in Brazilian households mainly in North
region.
Firstly it was concluded that there is still a high share
of traditional cook stoves mainly in rural areas using fuel
wood (North and Northeast). Even though there is this
high rate for poor population, LPG cook stove is not the
only means of cooking because they keep wood fueled
stove as a kind of back-up in case they cannot afford to
buy LPG.
During the period where LPG was subsidized, there
was a significant reduction on fuel wood consumption in
households but since the LPG prices started to increase
due to the lack of subsidies, LPG consumption started to
be replaced again by fuel wood.
As a result it can be seen that the fuel wood
consumption is the most important responsible for the
carbon emission in Brazilian households when compared
to other energy sources for cooking.
Therefore it can be realized that LPG special policies
must be implemented again – at least for the North and
Northeast regions where this fuel is still quite in use. The
existing policy which included the “gas-allowance” in the
“Bolsa Familia” does not seem to effective to reduce fuel
wood consumption since the poor families receive the
Bolsa Familia and spend it in other (considered more
important) expenditures like food.
Second important conclusion is that – as expected -
energy access in North region from diesel oil-fueled
power plants for the Isolated System is responsible for
the higher percentage of carbon emissions in Brazilian
households despite being the region with the lowest
electricity consumption in households (and the lowest
rate of energy access).
Therefore, expansion of energy access in North
region (mainly Brazilian Amazonia) should be based on
renewable energy (RE), which is decentralized (what is a
basic condition for the Amazonia rainforest) and present
lower carbon emissions.
However it must be noted that RE sources to be used
in this region must address power enough not only to
households supply but also to allow productive activities,
as recommended in several studies mentioned here and
summarized an discussed in [2].
Further phases of ECOPA project expect also to
include the evaluation of carbon emissions from diesel oil
consumption in the boats used to transport diesel oil (for
electricity generation) and LPG (for cooking) in the
thousands of remote villages in Amazonia through the
rivers in the rainforest.
6 NOTES
(1) This law aims at the unification of the
management procedures and the
implementation of actions to transfer income
from the federal government.
(2) The CCC policy was created in 1973. Around
90% of diesel costs were covered by Eletrobras
(and distributed among all Brazilian electricity
consumers of interlinked system). Now they are
covered directly by the Brazilian Government
(Tesouro Nacional – National Treasure in
English). In 2007, CCC expenditures were 4.3
billion BRL [8], four times the expenditures in
2001.
(3) Considering an average of 100 kW-demand per
village [15], there is a demand of 373 MW not
supplied.
(4) Considering that the fuel wood consumed in the
households is not from planted forests and so
there is no the null carbon balance as from
sustainable biomass.
6 REFERENCES
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7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This paper is based on the preliminary analyses
developed by CENBIO/IEE/USP and CIRED
researchers for the ECOPA project (Evolution of
consumption patterns, economic convergence
and carbon footprint of development. A
comparison Brazil – France) jointly funded by
FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do
Estado de São Paulo, Brazil) and ANR (Agence
Nationale de Recherche, France)
Authors are grateful to FAPESP and ANR, as
well as to all participants in the project, in
addition to the students involved for their
helpful cooperation.