Paulo Alonso - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Paulo Alonso
Energy Policy, 2008
The introduction of natural-gas-powered thermoelectricity into the Brazilian generation sector ca... more The introduction of natural-gas-powered thermoelectricity into the Brazilian generation sector can be considered as a very complex energy, economic, regulatory and institutional revision. Brazil is a country with very specific characteristics in electricity generation, as approximately 80% of the generating capacity is based on hydroelectricity, showing strong dependency on rain and management of water reservoirs. A low rate of investment in the Brazilian Electricity Industry in the period of 1995-2000, associated with periods of low rainfall, led to a dramatic lowering of the water stocks in the reservoirs. With this scenario and the growing supply of natural gas, both from within Brazil and imported, natural gas thermal electric plants became a good option to diversify the electrical supply system. In spite of the Brazilian Government's efforts to install such plants, the country was faced with severe electricity rationing in 2001. The objective of this work is to show the need to continue with the implementation of natural gas thermal electricity projects, in a manner that allows flexibility and guarantees greater working reliability for the entire Brazilian electricity sector. Taking into account the world trend towards renewable energy, the perspectives of usage of biofuels in the Brazilian Energy Matrix and in electrical energy generation are also analyzed. The very issue of electrical power efficiency in Brazil and its challenges and strategic proposals from the standpoint of Government Programs and results provided so far are presented. The technological constraints in order to put on stream the thermal electric plants are also analyzed. The article concludes with a positive perspective of the usage of natural gas as to be the third pillar in the Brazilian Energy Matrix for the years to come.
Energy Policy, 2005
This paper describes and analyzes the constraints hampering achievement of the 12% share planned ... more This paper describes and analyzes the constraints hampering achievement of the 12% share planned for natural gas in Brazil's energy matrix by 2010, and advises policies for reaching that goal on the basis of forecasts and three probable scenarios for the development of the Brazilian economy. The 12% share goal was established in 1993 by the Ministry of Mines and Energy and confirmed in 2000, and is now in full development. The figures used to represent the estimates of natural gas demands in the three scenarios were obtained from the Integrated Energy Planning Model (MIPE-Modelo Integrado de Planejamento Energ! etico), which is a technical and economic forecasting model developed by a group of researchers linked to the Energy Planning Program run by the Graduate Engineering Programs Coordination Unit at the Rio de Janeiro Federal University (COPPE-UFRJ) under the sponsorship of Petrobras (a Brazilian enterprise operating in the oil and gas segment) and Eletrobr! as (a Brazilian enterprise in charge of electricity demand planning). The analysis of the constraints take place under the aegis of the objective proposed by the Brazilian Government. The authors suggest specific actions to be taken in four application areas of natural gas: industrial, electric power generation, domestic distribution and vehicular fleet conversions. All the actions proposed encourage the use of a fuel with low environmental impacts and high calorie power, replacing firewood and other polluting fuels and are evaluated relative to the impacts occurring in society, especially from the standpoint of social welfare in a developing country. The necessity of developing the goods and services infrastructure in the country to support the natural gas insertion in the Brazilian energy matrix is also addressed.
Sustainability, Dec 30, 2019
Since World War I, the commercial aviation industry has seen many improvements that now allow peo... more Since World War I, the commercial aviation industry has seen many improvements that now allow people and goods to reach the other side of the world in a few hours, consuming much less fuel than in recent decades. Improvements in cargo capacity and energy efficiency were significant, and in this scenario, commercial airlines were able to thrive and bring great benefits to the world economy. However, this sector is facing environmental challenges due to the intensive use of jet fuel. Brazil is one of the largest domestic air passenger markets in the world and still has great growth potential, considering its economic potential and territorial dimensions, which are roughly the same size as the US and twice the size of the European Union. This paper discusses the partial productivity of jet fuel in Brazilian domestic aviation and proposes an econometric method to support public regulators and airline decisions. The proposed model uses variables, such as aircraft size, route characteristics, and idle flight capacity, in a panel data analysis. The results show that reducing idle capacity is one of the best ways to achieve better short-term fuel efficiency, and therefore will reduce the environmental impacts and have positive economic effects on commercial air transport activities. This paper brings a new approach to the discussion of airline performance, focusing on the use of jet fuel, with economic and environmental consequences.
International Business and Management, May 31, 2014
This study presents a methodology designed to evaluate the innovation potential of a set of compa... more This study presents a methodology designed to evaluate the innovation potential of a set of companies operating in the oil and gas segment in Brazil. This methodology was used as a tool to map these companies, with the purpose of evaluating their innovation potential for the development of pioneer technologies, products and services for offshore exploration and production activities in deep waters. The tool was applied to 33 companies and it is composed by seven macroindicators, among which are Organizational and Technological Management, Personnel Management and Technological and Informational Infrastructure. Each macro-indicator stands for a sub-index and the weighted sum of all seven sub-indexes composes the Innovation Potential Index (IP INNOVATION) of the company, standardized to a scale from zero to one. An analysis of the instrument used to calculate the IP INNOVATION as well as the application of the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) regarding the weights used for each macro-indicator consolidates this evaluation. This work emphasizes the importance of using this evaluation procedure as a tool to support the establishment of governmental policies in developing countries.
Offshore Technology Conference, 2009
Proceedings of Offshore Technology Conference, 2009
Since World War I, the commercial aviation industry has seen many improvements that now allow peo... more Since World War I, the commercial aviation industry has seen many improvements that now allow people and goods to reach the other side of the world in few hours, consuming much less fuel than in recent decades. Improvements in cargo capacity and energy efficiency were significant and, in this scenario, commercial airlines were able to thrive and bring great benefits to world economy. However, this sector is facing environmental challenges due to the intensive use of aviation fuel. Brazil is one of the largest domestic air passenger markets in the world and still has great growth potential, considering its economic potential and territorial dimensions: roughly the same size as the US and twice the size of the European Union. This paper discusses partial productivity of jet fuel in Brazilian domestic aviation and proposes an econometric method to support public regulators and airlines decisions. The proposed model uses variables such as aircraft size, route characteristics and idle fl...
Offshore Technology Conference, 2007
Energy Policy, 2008
The introduction of natural-gas-powered thermoelectricity into the Brazilian generation sector ca... more The introduction of natural-gas-powered thermoelectricity into the Brazilian generation sector can be considered as a very complex energy, economic, regulatory and institutional revision. Brazil is a country with very specific characteristics in electricity generation, as approximately 80% of the generating capacity is based on hydroelectricity, showing strong dependency on rain and management of water reservoirs. A low rate of investment in the Brazilian Electricity Industry in the period of 1995-2000, associated with periods of low rainfall, led to a dramatic lowering of the water stocks in the reservoirs. With this scenario and the growing supply of natural gas, both from within Brazil and imported, natural gas thermal electric plants became a good option to diversify the electrical supply system. In spite of the Brazilian Government's efforts to install such plants, the country was faced with severe electricity rationing in 2001. The objective of this work is to show the need to continue with the implementation of natural gas thermal electricity projects, in a manner that allows flexibility and guarantees greater working reliability for the entire Brazilian electricity sector. Taking into account the world trend towards renewable energy, the perspectives of usage of biofuels in the Brazilian Energy Matrix and in electrical energy generation are also analyzed. The very issue of electrical power efficiency in Brazil and its challenges and strategic proposals from the standpoint of Government Programs and results provided so far are presented. The technological constraints in order to put on stream the thermal electric plants are also analyzed. The article concludes with a positive perspective of the usage of natural gas as to be the third pillar in the Brazilian Energy Matrix for the years to come.
Energy Policy, 2005
This paper describes and analyzes the constraints hampering achievement of the 12% share planned ... more This paper describes and analyzes the constraints hampering achievement of the 12% share planned for natural gas in Brazil's energy matrix by 2010, and advises policies for reaching that goal on the basis of forecasts and three probable scenarios for the development of the Brazilian economy. The 12% share goal was established in 1993 by the Ministry of Mines and Energy and confirmed in 2000, and is now in full development. The figures used to represent the estimates of natural gas demands in the three scenarios were obtained from the Integrated Energy Planning Model (MIPE-Modelo Integrado de Planejamento Energ! etico), which is a technical and economic forecasting model developed by a group of researchers linked to the Energy Planning Program run by the Graduate Engineering Programs Coordination Unit at the Rio de Janeiro Federal University (COPPE-UFRJ) under the sponsorship of Petrobras (a Brazilian enterprise operating in the oil and gas segment) and Eletrobr! as (a Brazilian enterprise in charge of electricity demand planning). The analysis of the constraints take place under the aegis of the objective proposed by the Brazilian Government. The authors suggest specific actions to be taken in four application areas of natural gas: industrial, electric power generation, domestic distribution and vehicular fleet conversions. All the actions proposed encourage the use of a fuel with low environmental impacts and high calorie power, replacing firewood and other polluting fuels and are evaluated relative to the impacts occurring in society, especially from the standpoint of social welfare in a developing country. The necessity of developing the goods and services infrastructure in the country to support the natural gas insertion in the Brazilian energy matrix is also addressed.
Sustainability, Dec 30, 2019
Since World War I, the commercial aviation industry has seen many improvements that now allow peo... more Since World War I, the commercial aviation industry has seen many improvements that now allow people and goods to reach the other side of the world in a few hours, consuming much less fuel than in recent decades. Improvements in cargo capacity and energy efficiency were significant, and in this scenario, commercial airlines were able to thrive and bring great benefits to the world economy. However, this sector is facing environmental challenges due to the intensive use of jet fuel. Brazil is one of the largest domestic air passenger markets in the world and still has great growth potential, considering its economic potential and territorial dimensions, which are roughly the same size as the US and twice the size of the European Union. This paper discusses the partial productivity of jet fuel in Brazilian domestic aviation and proposes an econometric method to support public regulators and airline decisions. The proposed model uses variables, such as aircraft size, route characteristics, and idle flight capacity, in a panel data analysis. The results show that reducing idle capacity is one of the best ways to achieve better short-term fuel efficiency, and therefore will reduce the environmental impacts and have positive economic effects on commercial air transport activities. This paper brings a new approach to the discussion of airline performance, focusing on the use of jet fuel, with economic and environmental consequences.
International Business and Management, May 31, 2014
This study presents a methodology designed to evaluate the innovation potential of a set of compa... more This study presents a methodology designed to evaluate the innovation potential of a set of companies operating in the oil and gas segment in Brazil. This methodology was used as a tool to map these companies, with the purpose of evaluating their innovation potential for the development of pioneer technologies, products and services for offshore exploration and production activities in deep waters. The tool was applied to 33 companies and it is composed by seven macroindicators, among which are Organizational and Technological Management, Personnel Management and Technological and Informational Infrastructure. Each macro-indicator stands for a sub-index and the weighted sum of all seven sub-indexes composes the Innovation Potential Index (IP INNOVATION) of the company, standardized to a scale from zero to one. An analysis of the instrument used to calculate the IP INNOVATION as well as the application of the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) regarding the weights used for each macro-indicator consolidates this evaluation. This work emphasizes the importance of using this evaluation procedure as a tool to support the establishment of governmental policies in developing countries.
Offshore Technology Conference, 2009
Proceedings of Offshore Technology Conference, 2009
Since World War I, the commercial aviation industry has seen many improvements that now allow peo... more Since World War I, the commercial aviation industry has seen many improvements that now allow people and goods to reach the other side of the world in few hours, consuming much less fuel than in recent decades. Improvements in cargo capacity and energy efficiency were significant and, in this scenario, commercial airlines were able to thrive and bring great benefits to world economy. However, this sector is facing environmental challenges due to the intensive use of aviation fuel. Brazil is one of the largest domestic air passenger markets in the world and still has great growth potential, considering its economic potential and territorial dimensions: roughly the same size as the US and twice the size of the European Union. This paper discusses partial productivity of jet fuel in Brazilian domestic aviation and proposes an econometric method to support public regulators and airlines decisions. The proposed model uses variables such as aircraft size, route characteristics and idle fl...
Offshore Technology Conference, 2007