[12] Aragão, A, Giampietro, M “Net
Energy Analysis of Oil and Natural Gas production in Brazil –
using the MuSIASEM approach” 2nd International Conference on
Energy & Environment (ICEE), 18-19 June, 2015, Guimarães,
Portugal. pp 278-285
Abstract
This study analyses the energetic performance of the Oil and Gas sector of Brazil using the MuSIASEM (Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism) approach. In this approach, the performance of the energy sector is assessed using the concept of “Strength of the Energetic Hypercycle” described by the ratio of two vectors: (i) the supply of the mix of energy carriers delivered to society (the mix of outputs); (ii) the consumption of the mix of energy carriers used by the energy sector (the mix of inputs). The results of the study show that this method of accounting provides an effective quantitative characterization of the set of energy transformations taking place in the energy sector of Brazil. In fact, it makes it possible to describe the requirement of labor and energy carriers (defined in type and quantity) of the different compartments of the society. Moreover, this method of accounting makes it possible to bridge two types of information referring to: (i) “typologies” – technical coefficients describing the performance of a process studied in terms of unitary operations at the local scale (bottom up information); and (ii) “instances” – statistical data describing aggregated quantities of energy flows associated to a mix of energy transformations taking place in functional compartments (top down information). This distinction between “bottom-up” and “top-down” information is simply not available when adopting the conventional method of accounting of energy statistics.
Abstract
This study analyses the energetic performance of the Oil and Gas sector of Brazil using the MuSIASEM (Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism) approach. In this approach, the performance of the energy sector is assessed using the concept of “Strength of the Energetic Hypercycle” described by the ratio of two vectors: (i) the supply of the mix of energy carriers delivered to society (the mix of outputs); (ii) the consumption of the mix of energy carriers used by the energy sector (the mix of inputs). The results of the study show that this method of accounting provides an effective quantitative characterization of the set of energy transformations taking place in the energy sector of Brazil. In fact, it makes it possible to describe the requirement of labor and energy carriers (defined in type and quantity) of the different compartments of the society. Moreover, this method of accounting makes it possible to bridge two types of information referring to: (i) “typologies” – technical coefficients describing the performance of a process studied in terms of unitary operations at the local scale (bottom up information); and (ii) “instances” – statistical data describing aggregated quantities of energy flows associated to a mix of energy transformations taking place in functional compartments (top down information). This distinction between “bottom-up” and “top-down” information is simply not available when adopting the conventional method of accounting of energy statistics.
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