This article analyses the impact of hydroelectricity consumption on environmental degradation (CO2 emissions) in seven South American countries, in a period from 1966 to 2015. The Unrestricted Error Correction Model (UECM) form of the Auto-regressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) was utilized. The initial tests prove the presence of heteroskedasticity, cross sectional independence, and first-order autocorrelation. The results show that the consumption of hydroelectricity causes a reduction of -0.0465 in environmental degradation in the short run, and increase 0.0593 in the long-run. This empirical evidence could encourage the creation of new policies, which introduce new energy technologies that release zero carbon in the energy matrix.

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The study assesses the relevance of the recent local content policy (LCP) reforms for the oil sector in Brazil on the attractiveness of investments in exploration and production (E&P), and in terms of employment and income generation. For this, a cash flow of a typical E&P project was simulated in the Brazilian pre-salt environment in a field with reserves of 5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, under the regime of production sharing, adopting the assumptions of government participation of the tender protocol of the Libra field. In addition, in order to estimate the impact of the LCP on the generation of employment and income, the methodology of the Input–Output Model (IOM) was applied. The results indicated that high commitments of local content (LC), in contexts of restricted oil prices, compromise the profitability of E&P projects. In addition, the results showed that a greater volume of investments can more than offset the impact of higher levels of LC in generating employment and income for the country. Finally, the article concludes by arguing that the LCP reforms, undertaken since 2016, were necessary to guarantee the competitiveness of the Brazilian upstream in the current context of the international oil market.

Resumo A partir da crise do petróleo na década de 1970, retomou-se o debate sobre a introdução de veículos elétricos, uma vez que estes poderiam ser uma possível solução tecnológica para o aumento dos preços da gasolina e para a redução da dependência do petróleo. Junto a isto, a preocupação com as emissões de CO2, as quais têm no setor de transportes uma das principais causas, motivou a busca por alternativas menos poluentes. Além destes fatores, pode-se destacar a maior eficiência do motor elétrico, a diminuição do ruído nas áreas urbanas, visto que estes têm operação silenciosa, além da melhora na qualidade do ar. Assim, este trabalho irá apresentar os desafios na introdução de modelos elétricos, especialmente no mercado brasileiro. De maneira geral, vale destacar o alto custo das baterias e a falta de infraestrutura de recarga. Para compreender como esta difusão poderá ocorrer no país, serão apresentadas características específicas do mercado automobilístico brasileiro, como o setor de biocombustíveis bem desenvolvido, o que deve impactar neste processo.

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