Abundant amounts of oil discovered off the Brazilian coast make Brazil a potential hotspot for energy sourcing. However, with oil being found in easier to reach places, and technology such as fracking increasing around the globe, Brazil’s oils stocks are being overlooked. Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, was at one point included in the top ten biggest companies in the world. Petrobras is now being accused of declaring false claims of oil supplies. At first when oil was found, President Lula announced it as a gift from God, just another admirable quality that would boost Brazil to a global power. Even today Brazil expects roughly 4.7 million barrels a day to be produced within the next decade. These estimates seem unreasonably high since there haven’t been nearly as many proven oil wells as expected and the salt layer over the oil makes it very expensive to extract. Petrobras is becoming weaker and deeper in debt due to policies that force it to buy brazilian made equipment, maintain at least a 30% stake in new pre-salt fields, and sell gasoline at prices below market value. The instability of Petrobras causes other companies to hesitate on investing in Brazil’s oil. Brazil’s oil is mainly extracted from one area, the Polygon, located off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Approximately 80% of all Brazil’s oil comes from Campos, which is said to have 175 billion barrels of undiscovered oil and natural gas resources. 35 Billion have already been discovered there. It is due to approximations such as these that investors are beginning to have more confidence in Brazilian oil investments. Still Petrobras has been reported as $130 billion in debt, with proven oil reserves decreased by 20% in 2015. Oil and gas companies struggle when sources fall out because it makes it difficult to borrow money. Companies continue to explore and expand development of oil wells even when there is no money. It seems as though Brazil’s oil situation may just be another one of its steps to global recognition falling out from under its foot again. If the Brazilian government had less corruption and Petrobras was not so tightly controlled, oil reserves in Brazil may be of more interest to foreign investors. By controlling Petrobras and forcing them to participate in multiple cost-inefficient practices, the government is not even giving the company a chance to survive. If every company in each country only bought and used home produced equipment and machinery, there would never be any exchange of oil on a global level. It is too expensive to buy and maintain only home produced equipment, which causes petrobras to have a disadvantage from the start. Even if oil were to be actually found in the Polygon, it would take a lot of machinery and money to get through the salt layer, another setback of Brazilian oil reserves, Investors are going to want to go where there is a lot of oil, and where it is easily accessible. Brazilian oil is not advertising itself as either proven abundant or easily accessible. Even when it does make strides in proving abundant oil, other setbacks come into play that still result in investors placing their money in other oil reserves around the world. Oil is necessary to meet energy needs, but it has many adverse environmental impacts in Brazil, especially in Guanabara Bay. There are at least two refineries, four terminals and shipyards, storage tanks, factories and pipelines polluting the area. The oil also serves as a carbon sink, in which case burning the oil will result in increased carbon emissions into the atmosphere. The Brazilian government rejects concerns such as these on the basis that other countries developed without concern for global carbon emissions, similar to how other countries dam rivers and streams but are against Brazil using dams for development.
Clemente, J. (2016). Brazil’s oil production expected to continually increase. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2016/07/12/brazils-oil-production-expected-to-continually-increase/#6fbb9fe5434c
Brazil’s favelas are little cities usually on the outskirts of large cities. About 6 percent of Brazil’s populations live in these favelas. Rocinha is located in the south Zone of Rio de Janeiro, it is Brazil’s largest Favela and an estimated 180,000 people live there. People living in Favelas often belong to the middle class, yet where they live they lack sufficient basic services and are in unregulated, generally unsafe areas. The favelas are little shanty towns constructed of brick houses with poor sewage regulation but sufficient in electricity and running water. Depending on what job a resident has, they may either be poor and live way atop the mountainside and have to walk all the way up, or they may be fairly well off, with cable TV, water, and electric. Life in the favelas requires residents to step up and perform tasks regularly taken care of by municipalities. For example, mail does not come deep into the favelas, so a resident may be assigned as an unofficial mailman. Since drugs and crime are major issues in the favelas, policemen are appointed in each little city to keep the peace. There are often instances of police brutality and Brazil struggles with containing and regulating the actions taken by police officers on a regular basis in these favelas. Many residents never graduated elementary school and go to work either in the city or volunteer from home. Daycare and preschool services are offered by volunteers in some places. Residents in shanty towns choose not to move away even when they can afford it. The people who grow up in Rocinha know it as home. With health centers and a family atmosphere, the little community functions in a very unique way. Jobs pop up such as motor taxiing people up and down the mountainside to being a barber from home. It is truly amazing that with little government intervention the favelas still support populations as large as they do. The favelas Are an indicator of Brazil’s still lingering income gaps, racial divide and lawlessness. With 60 percent of the favela population being black and only 7 percent black in the city’s richer district, it is clear that income gaps are still linked to racial identification as well. Violence and drug trafficking in the Favelas reached a high point during Lula’s presidency, causing him to command the military into the Favelas to halt drug trafficking and other forms of violence. Though there are jobs available in the nearby city and in the mini city, many residents are still unemployed. Education in the Favelas also must be improved to improve the quality of life of the residents. Lula placed permanent police presence in the Favelas to help implement urban planning and renewal projects. Playgrounds, day cares, libraries and cultural centers are all underway in many Favelas across brazil. The Favelas are very important in understanding Brazil’s urban planning. To some degree, there was no planning. The government decided to make it very difficult on people to live on the countryside, which caused an influx of people to the cities who were poor and were given nothing. They came to the cities looking for work and opportunity and landed in a favela. Although favela life is increasing in quality, their presence still signifies Brazil’s inability to effectively regulate and support its population. Lula’s attempt to pacify the favelas could be extremely critical in the movement of people from the favela to the real city. However, if the government continues to dump more money into tourist attractions and only provides support to pacification due to the presence of large games like the World Cup and the Olympics, the favelas will most likely return to the drug infested, crime-ridden state they maintained before government intervention.
Hosting the 2016 Olympic Games, Brazil’s water quality was thrown into the spotlight. Guanabara Bay was especially criticized as Olympic sailors practiced and competed in its waters. The waters are filled with pollution in the form of plastic bags, pieces of trash, and chemicals. Sailing expensive boats in these waters is dangerous as the garbage can get stuck in rudders, cause boats to crash, and overall damage very important equipment. On top of the damage to the boats, the sailors themselves are at risk of contracting illnesses from being in the water. Raw sewage is released into the waters on a regular basis, making the water unsuitable for swimming and dangerous to swallow. WHO advisers recommended that competitors minimize contact with the water, cover all cuts with waterproof bandages, avoid swallowing water and shower directly after contact. For obvious reasons, this advice was hard to follow and as a result many competitors fell ill during preparation for the games. Attempts have been made to clean the Bay but they are poorly implemented and unable to reverse the years of rubbish and sewage buildup. The pollution is a result of Brazil’s lack of garbage collection in its towns and cities in addition to underdeveloped sanitation systems. Only about half of Rio’s sewage is treated, despite promises to have 80 percent treated before the Olympics. Former employees have acknowledged that more accurately about 30% of sewage is actually treated. As a result, the adenovirus is common in the waters. Infectious strains of the virus can enter the human body through cuts, scrapes, and other openings and can become airborne. The virus causes diarrhea, respiratory problems, and other conditions. Despite this, the World Health Organization declared the Bay suitable for recreation on the basis of bacterial indicators rather than viruses. Sixty Five percent of all hospitalizations in brazil are due to water transmitted diseases. While these diseases can usually be treated with antibiotics, strains are becoming resistant quicker than ever before. In the Toledo River, the water is becoming increasingly polluted due to another source of pollution: agricultural waste. The basin includes 175 farms, 47 of which include pig production activities. About 75,000 hectares are covered in soybean crops. Soybean production in this area is one contributor to water pollution, as the fields are fertilized with manure. The pig manure is minimally treated if at all before it is dispersed on the fields. The soybean fields also pollute groundwater because they are treated with agrochemicals that seep deep into soil. Runoff from agriculture carries excess nitrogen and phosphorus into the river basin causing eutrophication. Eutrophication causes an increase in algal blooms which consume oxygen in the water, resulting in decreased animal life and lower water quality. Other areas in Brazil are facing water issues as well. For example, in Sao Paulo, The Billings Reservoir is too polluted to use for public water supplies. Brazil is way ahead in terms of renewable water resources, measured by precipitation, recharged groundwater and surface inflows. The country contains 12 to 16 percent of the world’s total supply. Though Brazil is home to some of the world’s largest freshwater supplies, rapid industrial and agricultural development has polluted most of it. Brazil’s demand for water is ever increasing with the use of hydropower and spreading agriculture. Significant financial and political investments are necessary to clean the water and sustainably use it. Political scandals and corruption stand in the way of Brazilian water solutions, putting the nation back in terms of development.