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Emergy diagnosis and reflections towards Brazilian sustainable development

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  • Giannetti, B.F.
  • Demétrio, J.F.C.
  • Bonilla, S.H.
  • Agostinho, F.
  • Almeida, C.M.V.B.

Abstract

This paper presents an environmental emergy-based diagnosis of Brazil compared with Russia, India, China, South Africa and United States. Reflections on the Brazilian sustainable development are presented and discussed based on the evaluations published since 1979. The variation of the emergy per capita for Brazil from 1979 to 2007 indicates that the country's growth is tied to the exploitation of non renewable natural resources which do not directly reflect in the welfare of the population. The total emergy exported per unit of gross domestic product increased in the period, suggesting that the country exports more emergy than that contained in the money received for the exportation. With the help of the emergy indices, the future development of Brazil is explored and discussed. The comparison among the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries and United States indicates that what may be appropriate and usable within one country may not be within another and that to achieve the global sustainability two concomitant actions may occur: (i) the reduction of the total emergy use in developed economies, and (ii) the reduction of indigenous resources exportation in developing economies.

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  • Giannetti, B.F. & Demétrio, J.F.C. & Bonilla, S.H. & Agostinho, F. & Almeida, C.M.V.B., 2013. "Emergy diagnosis and reflections towards Brazilian sustainable development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1002-1012.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:63:y:2013:i:c:p:1002-1012
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.08.085
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    4. Yinan Xu & Yingxing Zhao & Peng Sui & Wangsheng Gao & Zhijun Li & Yuanquan Chen, 2021. "Emergy-Based Evaluation on the Systemic Sustainability of Rural Ecosystem under China Poverty Alleviation and Rural Revitalization: A Case of the Village in North China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-16, July.
    5. Giannetti, Biagio F. & Sevegnani, Fábio & Almeida, Cecília M.V.B. & Agostinho, Feni & Moreno García, Roberto R. & Liu, Gengyuan, 2019. "Five sector sustainability model: A proposal for assessing sustainability of production systems," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 406(C), pages 98-108.
    6. Fengjiao Ma & A. Egrinya Eneji & Yanbin Wu, 2018. "An Evaluation of Input–Output Value for Sustainability in a Chinese Steel Production System Based on Emergy Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-19, December.
    7. Giannetti, Biagio F. & Faria, Luciana & Almeida, Cecília M.V.B. & Agostinho, Feni & Coscieme, Luca & Liu, Gengyuan, 2018. "Human-nature nexuses in Brazil: Monitoring production of economic and ecosystem services in historical series," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 30(PB), pages 248-256.
    8. Viglia, S. & Matthews, K.B. & Miller, D.G. & Wardell-Johnson, D. & Rivington, M. & Ulgiati, S., 2017. "The social metabolism of Scotland: An environmental perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 304-313.
    9. Arbault, Damien & Rugani, Benedetto & Tiruta-Barna, Ligia & Benetto, Enrico, 2014. "A first global and spatially explicit emergy database of rivers and streams based on high-resolution GIS-maps," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 281(C), pages 52-64.
    10. Liu, Xinyu & Liu, Gengyuan & Yang, Zhifeng & Chen, Bin & Ulgiati, Sergio, 2016. "Comparing national environmental and economic performances through emergy sustainability indicators: Moving environmental ethics beyond anthropocentrism toward ecocentrism," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1532-1542.
    11. Yu Zhao & Miao Yu & Yinghui Xiang & Chunguang Chang, 2023. "An approach to stimulate the sustainability of an eco-industrial park using coupled emergy and system dynamics," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(10), pages 11531-11556, October.
    12. Cecilia M. V. B. Almeida & Biagio F. Giannetti & Feni Agostinho & Gengyuan Liu & Zhifeng Yang, 2021. "What Are the Stimuli to Change to a Sustainable Post-COVID-19 Society?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-13, November.
    13. Geng, Yong & Tian, Xu & Sarkis, Joseph & Ulgiati, Sergio, 2017. "China-USA Trade: Indicators for Equitable and Environmentally Balanced Resource Exchange," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 245-254.

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