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The main objective of this article is to assess the carbon footprint of Brazilian families based on the Household Expenditure Survey (POF), 2008-2009, from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The methodology used to quantify the Brazilian households’ carbon footprint has comprised three data sources: i) Household expenditure Survey, 2008-2009; ii) Leontief matrix of Brazilian accounts, year 2010; and iii) 2009 World Input-Output Database (WIOD) environmental inventory. Initially, an input-output (IO) model was created. Next, the results from the IO model were combined with the information of the POF. The poorest families, with a monthly income of up to $ 415.00, emit less than 1.5 metric tons per year, in contrast, the wealthiest families, with a monthly income above $ 5,187.50, release around 18.5 tons, almost 12 times more. It was found that an increase in income, results in an increase in CO2eq emissions. Thus, while the poorest families, which represent more than 20% of the total Brazilian families, cause 7% of the total emissions, the wealthiest families cause 16% of the total emissions although they represent only 4% of the total families. It was observed that the food category loses importance as income increases, while the opposite occurs in the services category. For the poorest families, there is great importance in the housing category, mostly caused by the consumption of electricity and LPG. Therefore, important measures for economic growth supported by actions become particularly relevant.

The improvement of horizontal drilling techniques and hydraulic fracturing makes shale gas exploration an option economically. Shale gas has the potential to reshape energy policy at national and international levels. Shale gas development can be an effective path to a low-carbon energy transition because natural gas, conventional or unconventional, has relatively lower emissions than other fossil fuels, as well as lower cost and abundant global reserves. This paper uses the SWOT analysis method to identify possibilities and challenges that shale gas development may face. To prepare the analysis, an advanced search was carried out on the Science Direct platform, investigating the strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T) of the development of shale gas linked to the energy transition context. The most cited strength was abundant availability, followed by increased energy security. Regarding weaknesses, the most evident were environmental impacts and pollution. The most-reported opportunity for shale gas development was the prospect of replacing other sources, and the threat was public skepticism and less support than there is for renewables, although the ban was also included. A possible path for the development of shale gas, in an energy transition context, is an opportunity to replace other sources, such as coal, taking advantage of its abundance and energy security. However, for development to become relatively clean, fugitive emissions and other negative aspects of exploration must be mitigated.