Öl- und Gasforschung

Abstrakt

A Case Study of Orlando (USA) and Curitiba (Brazil) about Sustainable Urban Mobility with biomethane

Janaina Lofhagen

Increasing urbanization and climate change scenarios are one
of the major challenges faced by the international community.
Current patterns of urban mobility contribute greatly to the
accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere.
This is mainly due to our dependence on urban transportation
systems and modes that rely heavily on burning of fossil fuels.
This concern has forced the administrative and energy sectors
to search for alternative fuels that can meet growing urban energy
demands, while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.
Unfortunately, alternative fuels technology remains expensive
and outputs are often unable to satisfy a region’s need. This article
aims to analyze a more sustainable approach toward urban
mobility through the use of alternative fuels, focusing specifically
on the use of biomethane as a renewable fuel source used
to power public transit. It is available in abundance worldwide,
and exerts a very small carbon footprint, thus mitigating water,
air and soil pollution. The use biomethane to fuel public
transit in Curitiba (Brazil) and Orlando (United States) and
its benefits are presented in this article, as well as the comparison
of this fuel to other sources and its trade-offs, through an
empirical research. With the support of the Urban Agency of
Curitiba (URBS) and MetroPlan Orlando, this study identified
the biomethane potential for both cities, using landfill waste,
and the impacts of CO2 emission reduction to the atmosphere,
proposing a more sustainable source of energy for public transportation.
It is concluded that, if compared to diesel, biomethane
has a similar yield, emits 85% less CO2 to the atmosphere
and avoid other pollutant emissions in its production chain