Thermal or thermal power plants generate energy based on the burning of fossil fuels, such as oil, coal, and natural gas, or processes involving radioactive materials. This energy generation model is mainly responsible for the emission of Greenhouse Gases (GHG), in addition to being an expensive alternative that results in high costs on the energy bills Brazilians pay.
According to the Energy Research Company (EPE), the Brazilian electrical matrix, the set of sources used to generate electrical energy, is made up of 8.3% burning natural gas and 3.1% burning coal and derivatives. Despite hydroelectric plants being the majority source of electrical energy in Brazil, thermoelectric plants have expanded and multiplied capacities, mainly due to the water crisis, in recent years.
From 2000 to 2001, a major energy shortage was known as the “Blackout”. This led to a worsening energy crisis in the country. In response, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) created the Thermoelectric Power Plants Priority Program (PPT). The PPT was designed to incentivize the construction of power plants that use natural gas and mineral coal as energy sources. At the program’s launch, there were 49 projects, equivalent to a 40% increase in the power of the Brazilian generating complex.
In 2021, 17 new thermoelectric plant projects were contracted during an emergency auction held in October as a result of the water crisis.
Studies show that the use of such sources has been increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere year after year, which directly impacts the climate, with recurring annual temperature records and the emission of carcinogenic gases that directly affect people’s health. People, while economic interests are prioritized.
Despite all the warnings about the climate crisis and the global agreement that undertakes efforts to eliminate carbon emissions by the year 2050, the Brazilian Government has been investing in fossil energy generation under the justification that the country already has an electrical matrix that is used to transmit renewable resource-based energy but also can be used to transmit thermal dynamic-based energy.
We can no longer continue with carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at current levels.
This is where thermoelectric plants pose so much risk and become a crucial problem in the race to save the Planet from disasters resulting from global warming. Although the main problem in Brazil is deforestation, the main factor in CO2 emissions is precisely the energy sector, with an emphasis on electricity generation through thermoelectric plants.
Thus, an energy transition is the solution through renewable sources to generate energy in a decentralized and distributed way, drastically reducing the socio-environmental effects caused by investments in fossil fuels.
This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Brazil Country Manager Carlos Alexandre de Oliveira.
Image: Presidente Médici thermoelectric plant, in São Paulo Photo: Michel Filho / O Globo