The transport sector in Brazil is the largest source of energy demand, and emissions have continued to increase in recent years, mainly from freight and private vehicles.9 Emissions from road transport constitute a majority of sectoral emissions, despite the fact that Brazil is one of the countries with the highest use of biofuels, with a 25% share in 2019.9
The main policy in the sector, called RenovaBio, aims to increase the use of biofuels, however, these fuels require land to grow their crop feedstocks, leading to increased deforestation, and are resource intensive.13,19
The electric vehicle (EV) market in Brazil is still nascent, but has shown positive growth and is expected to increase to almost a 20% share of car sales by 2030.20 Brazil could increase investment in EV infrastructure and provide incentives for users, to stimulate demand and go beyond this projection.
The 1.5°C scenarios analysed show rapid emissions reduction and reach zero emissions sometime in the 2040s, with electricity’s share of transport final energy demand reaching one to two thirds by 2050. One scenario assumes a low dependence on biofuels but higher use of hydrogen in the sector.
In addition to promoting zero emission vehicles, Brazil could also look into opportunities to reduce the need for car ownership by developing alternatives, such as the improvement of public transport, promoting bike paths and improving mobility in cities.
4 Gütschow, J., Jeffery, L., Gieseke, R. & Günther, A. The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series (1850-2017). V.2.1. GFZ Data Services (2019) doi:10.5880/PIK.2019.018.
5 Silva Junior, C. H. L. et al. The Brazilian Amazon deforestation rate in 2020 is the greatest of the decade. Nat Ecol Evol 5, 144–145 (2021).
13 Searchinger, T., Waite, R., Hanson, C. & Ranganathan, J. Creating a sustainable food future: A menu of solutions to feed nearly 10 billion people by 2050. World Resources Report (2019).