{"id":50384534,"date":"2023-11-24T13:35:18","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T13:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogochino.net\/?p=384534"},"modified":"2023-12-04T21:30:11","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T21:30:11","slug":"384534-petrobras-looks-to-china-for-green-partners-and-more-oil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/energy\/384534-petrobras-looks-to-china-for-green-partners-and-more-oil\/","title":{"rendered":"Petrobras looks to China for green partners \u2013 and more oil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the COP28 climate conference opens in Dubai next week, Brazil will be presenting a contradiction to the world: while promising<\/a> to accelerate its energy transition, the country continues to invest<\/a> massively in oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the key movers in this area is Petrobras. In April, the country\u2019s state oil company created<\/a> a new directorate to oversee its work on the energy transition and renewables. Meanwhile, in a statement<\/a> about its 2024-2028 strategy, to be launched this Friday, the company says it will invest 11.5 billion reais (US$2,35 billion) in low-carbon projects, without suddenly giving up oil production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Petrobras is also pushing<\/a> for permission to drill for at the Foz do Amazonas Basin, a project still awaiting an environmental licence, and one that has proven controversial due its possible threats to a sensitive and biodiverse area of the Amazon. The company is also eyeing international expansion, having announced its intention to open a subsidiary<\/a> in China in 2024, with the aim of facilitating trade and partnerships between the two countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is much speculation about Petrobras\u2019 next steps as its 2023-2027 strategic plan \u2013 launched<\/a> during the administration of former president Jair Bolsonaro \u2013 deepened the company\u2019s commitment to fossil fuels and buried renewable energy projects, according to Andr\u00e9 Luis Ferreira, executive director of the Institute for Energy and Environment (IEMA), and an environmental management professor at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo. Under the previous plan, Petrobras planned to spend less than 1%<\/a> of its total investments on clean energies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Petrobras<\/div>
Jean Paul Prates, chief executive of Petrobras, at a press conference in July 2023. The company has announced that over the next five years it will allocate 11.5 billion reais to low-carbon projects, with an emphasis on wind and solar power plants, hydrogen and bio-refining. (Image: Tomaz Silva \/ Ag\u00eancia Brasil)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the new government [of President Lula], we\u2019ve seen talk that [Petrobras] is going to invest in renewables again,\u201d says Ferreira. \u201cWe need to pay attention to this movement and the new plan, to what the discourse and practice will be like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Various studies and organisations have highlighted the need for countries to drastically reduce and eventually phase out fossil fuels. A study<\/a> published in Nature, for example, estimates that oil and gas production should be reduced by 3% a year globally by 2050 in order to limit global warming to 1.5C by the end of the century \u2013 a target accepted by Paris Agreement signatories, including Brazil, to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Contrary to that trajectory, the growth in Brazil\u2019s oil production exceeded expectations in October, with the country setting new records for output, according to the latest report<\/a> from the International Energy Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n