Director said company has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 40%
09/19/2024
/i.s3.glbimg.com/v1/AUTH_37554604729d4b2f9f3eb9ad8a691345/internal_photos/bs/2024/R/C/2icyhyRKSTy6lLDFQfiA/climate-summit-mauricio-tolmasquim-da-petrobras-vanessa-carvalho-valor.png)
Maurício Tolmasquim, executive director of energy transition and sustainability at Petrobras, said on Thursday (19) that the state-owned company has set aside $11.5 billion to investments in renewable energies.
In a presentation at the Brazil-US Climate Impact Summit 2024, organized by Valor and AmCham at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, Mr. Tolmasquim pointed out that the company has already reduced its absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 40% and its methane gas emissions by 70%. The company will allocate 11% of its investments to the energy transition.
According to him, these amounts are three times higher than emissions from Brazilian domestic aviation.
Mr. Tolmasquim, who used to be president of the Energy Research Company (EPE), responsible for planning the sector in Brazil, pointed out that the goal of limiting the rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius implies a 7% annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
The Petrobras executive stressed that this 7% drop is equivalent to what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’d need one COVID a year to meet the target. So we can see the size of the challenge,” he said, noting that this reduction, unlike what happened during the pandemic, should happen without the impacts on the economy and society caused by COVID-19.
He pointed out that this need for reduction will have a significant geopolitical impact, increasing the need for dialogue between countries and a change in primary energy sources.
Mr. Tolmasquim pointed out that Brazil has the advantage of having a renewable energy mix, with 50% of the total coming from renewable sources. For this reason, he said, Brazil can deepen trade partnerships with the United States, China, and the European Union.
In electricity, the level jumps to 91%, while the world average is 30%. In transportation, he stressed, 35% of the Brazilian matrix is renewable.
*Por Robson Rodrigues, Rafael Rosas — Nova York, Rio de Janeiro
Source: Valor International