Search Results (16)

Urban regeneration projects have been part of urban planning in different cities to recover strategic areas and combat new land consumption. Often, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) agreements are signed to meet the demands of these projects. In the Brazilian context, the general PPP law classifies concessions into two types: sponsored concessions or administrative concessions. Urban regeneration projects in the Brazilian context can be carried out through different policies and instruments, such as those in the City Statute. Despite this, there are several obstacles in how these practices are developed, which require greater attention to the enabling environment and the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) that can improve the performance of these public procurement practices. Based on this, this study aims to analyze the Brazilian context of PPP arrangements in urban regeneration projects and the specific case of the “Porto Maravilha” in Rio de Janeiro. To this scope, the study adopts a previously established CSF framework. The data analyzed are derived from secondary sources obtained through documentation collection and primary sources obtained through interviews. Regarding the PPP process, the results indicate financial and execution problems. Concerning the project, which remains unfinished, the results point to a transformation of the port area, but with significant social impacts. Full article

The Brazilian port sector faces an urgent need for modernization to meet the demands of the contemporary global economy. A significant challenge lies in the shallow depth of access channels, which hinders the navigation of larger ships with deeper drafts, and the fact that many ports are constrained by the proximity of large cities, limiting their expansion. This study aims to identify Brazilian ports with the potential to accommodate post-Panamax ships, a critical component of modern maritime trade. Using a multi-criteria evaluation system, five key criteria were selected: water depth, land capacity for expansion, dredging requirements, water accessibility, and transport infrastructure. These criteria were systematically applied to 210 Brazilian port facilities, analyzed through QGIS 3.38.3 software using satellite imagery and literature sources. To prioritize the most suitable ports, Pareto analysis and quartile analysis were employed, resulting in the identification of 58 port facilities as prime candidates for expansion. This research provides a data-driven framework to guide the modernization of Brazilian ports, positioning them to better serve the growing demands of the global maritime industry. Full article

Background: The coffee industry is one of the most important world supply chains, with an estimated consumption of two billion cups daily, making it the most consumed beverage worldwide. Coffee beans are primarily grown in tropical countries, with Brazil accounting for almost 50% of the production. The objective of this study is to examine the Brazilian trade between 2018 and 2022, focusing on state producers, logistical corridors, and importer countries. Methods: The methodology approach revolves around a quantitative method using Social Network Analysis measures. Results: The results reveal a massive concentration in local production (99.5%—Minas Gerais), port movements (99.9%—Santos, Itaguai, and Rio de Janeiro), and country buyers (80.9%—the United States, United Kingdon, and Japan). Conclusions: The study concludes that the Brazilian green coffee supply chain relies on a fragile and overloaded logistical network. Due to that, this study indicates that the stakeholders and decision-makers involved must consider this high concentration of production in some areas and companies. They must also address the bottlenecks in logistical corridors and the fierce competition involved in acquiring and processing Brazilian coffee production because these factors can drastically affect the revenue of the companies operating in this sector. Full article

This study proposes a multiobjective optimization model (MOO) based on a green supply chain so that coffee produced in Brazil could supply the North American market with lower environmental impacts and costs. Production and distribution arrangements were established considering four coffee-producing regions, three ports of origin in Brazil, four destination ports, seven roasting plants, and fifteen consumption centers, all distributed throughout the American territory. Environmental and economic performances regarding global warming potential (GWP) and costs were determined for a life cycle approach. The results indicate that coffee cultivation has the most significant contributions to the GWP of the arrangements. The transport of the product by road also plays an essential role, especially if extensive distances are covered during the port–roaster–consumer center journey in the United States. The analysis showed differences of 2.0 kg CO_2eq and US$8.00 per ton of coffee between the best and worst arrangements, which can be considered significant when projected to the Brazilian annual coffee export scale. In the environmental limit condition, the optimization can lead to non-trivial results compared to the real market. The model conceived for the MOO can be improved to reproduce more realistic conditions by incorporating producer and consumer markets, inserting uncertainties. Full article

Brazil has emerged as the world’s largest soybean producer and exporter in recent years. In the Brazilian Amazon Biome, the state of Pará has become a new agricultural frontier over the last two decades due to a significant increase in soybean cultivation throughout its territory. However, it is essential to understand the associated effects on the environment at every point in the supply chain. This research aims to measure the effects on the environment of the soybean supply chain of two production poles utilising openLCA software and the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology in the northeast (Paragominas) and south (Redenção) of the state of Pará in Brazil. In addition, we determine which is the most efficient route between the shipment port and the ultimate destination. The Recipe Midpoint (H) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methods of environmental impact categories were used in accordance with the cradle-to-grave scope. The BRLUC regionalised model (v1.3) was used to quantify land use change (LUC). According to the observed results, LUC was primarily responsible (between 3.8 and 32.69 tCO₂ Eq·ha⁻¹·year⁻¹) for the global warming potential (GWP) of the soybean supply chain when rainforest-occupied land was converted into cropland. The soybean harvest in the Redenção pole is better loaded through the port of Itaqui (TEGRAM), which is in São Luis (state of Maranhão), due to the use of multiple modes of transport (lorry + train), allowing for better logistical performance and less impact on the environment, despite the longest distance (road + railway = 1306 km). Due to the short road distance (approximately 350 km) and consequently lower environmental impact, soybean harvested in the Paragominas pole is better loaded through the ports around Barcarena in the state of Pará. Full article

Agribusiness trade is a complex network of commercial relations among countries, and it is influenced by on-shore and off-shore logistics. Therefore, it is essential to comprehend these relationships to improve decision-making regarding production and logistical development. This paper investigates Brazilian agricultural and livestock exports between 2013 and 2022 to understand logistical bottlenecks based on trade partners. To do so, we performed descriptive statistics and social network analysis (SNA) considering measures such as degree centrality, k-core, and tie strength. Our results indicate Brazil’s dependency on Asian markets whereby eight of ten are located on this continent. We observe an unexpected result regarding the low purchase of these products byimportant Brazilian partners such as the United States, the UK, and the European Union. Finally, the study confirms the Brazilian logistical bottleneck where two logistical corridors correspond to 76% of all agricultural exports in the period, with Santos, the busiest port, moving more than 46% of the cargo. Full article

It is undoubtedly true that ports can modify aspects of the regions where they are inserted in many different ways. Scholars have presented various perspectives on the influence of ports in society, including their roles according to their purpose. Surprisingly, in the age of sustainable development, the social roles of ports have not been explored in depth, and this offers an opportunity to increase the knowledge of this sector. This paper aims to investigate how managers in ports perceive their roles in the social dimension and why they think they should exist, presenting opportunities to align business objectives with the expectations of other stakeholders. Applying the content analysis technique, 28 interviews were conducted with managers in Brazilian ports and themes were developed to represent their views on social roles (5) and the reasons for adopting them (6). Overall, managers perceive social roles as part of the strategic business plan and present reasons to adopt them, ranging from compulsory to voluntary. Conclusions suggest that more needs to be done to expand the understanding of a pragmatic approach to social roles and to develop more focused actions according to the reasons for adopting social roles. Full article

Generating accurate estimates of the number of vessels in fishing ports using traditional methods (i.e., ground- and boat-based) can be challenging as observations are distorted by an horizontal perspective. Automated inspection using drones is an emerging research alternative for this type of investigation. However, the drone-based and ground- and boat-based survey methods have not been quantitatively compared for small-scale and commercial fishing fleets in their ports. The objective of this study was to determine the number of fishing vessels and detect onboard fishing gear using three independent sources of data along 41 ports across the Brazilian coastline. Proved by statistical significance, the drone-derived vessel counts revealed 17.9% and 26.6% more fishing vessels than ground- and boat-based surveys, respectively. These differences were further highlighted during the assessment of ports without a ground walkway, causing difficulty, especially for ground-based surveys. Considerable numbers and types of onboard fishing gear were detected using the drone survey, that could not be detected using the ground- and boat-based methods. Although the ground-based survey was associated with a lower cost in comparison with other methods, the drone-based survey required the least time to record fishing fleet features in study ports. Our findings demonstrate that drone surveys can improve the detection and precision of counts for fishing vessels and fishing gear in ports. Further, the magnitude of the discrepancies among the three methods highlights the need for employing drone surveys as a considerable time-reducing approach, and a cost-effective technique for fishery studies. Full article

Brazil’s transportation infrastructure did not follow the country’s agricultural development and the macro-logistics operations still rely on trucking. Even with a lack of roads, the service areas of the ports on the Atlantic coast, particularly the port of Santos, expanded to central Brazil, the country’s most productive agricultural area. Recently, the Federal Government released mid-term plans to build railways to reduce transportation costs until 2035. However, no simulation about port regionalization and competitiveness was performed. This research evaluated the effectiveness of the proposed transportation infrastructure regarding transportation cost and new routes that can reshape the ports’ influence areas. Our geographically explicit model used the Dinamica_EGO modeling platform and PostgreSQL, fed by official public data from transportation and agriculture authorities. Considering the hypothesis that new railways can increase port competitiveness, we computed scenarios considering the planned 2035 infrastructure and compared them to the current situation. The findings showed that the Ferrogrão railway can effectively reduce transport costs, therefore changing the spatial configuration of macro-logistics basins. In conclusion, a geospatial model can predict short-cheaper routes, port regionalization, and competitiveness regarding the geographic aspects of the supply chain. The long-distance and importance of Brazilian agriculture exportation justify and value the investigation. Full article

The crisis that affected Brazil as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic impacted several businesses. However, the distribution of products sold by e-commerce is one business that had increased its demand on a large scale. The Southeastern Region of Brazil has a wide territorial extension, a high number of inhabitants, and difficulties with transport logistics. Thus, this work presents a solution for choosing a location for the installation of an e-commerce warehouse, considering three possible locations, in two different Brazilian states: Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Our main objective is to identify policies that allow a balance in the trade-off between risks and service levels. Specifically, we seek to decrease logistics costs and ensure improvements in services. The choice of a location for a warehouse is a decision problem that can be solved with multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM). Three methods of MCDM have been applied: Fuzzy Decision Approach (FDA), Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT), and Multi-Attribute Value Theory (MAVT). The reasons for the application of the MAUT and MAVT methods originate from their easy understanding and use, while the concepts of FDA address the consideration of uncertainty. To maintain the simplicity of MCDM application, the FDA model is symmetric, even with symmetrical and asymmetrical fuzzy sets. Important criteria were the distance from capital cities, distance to ports, distance to airports, distance to highways, and the costs of land. Three different locations were considered for the installation of the warehouse. All three methods, FDA, MAUT, and MAVT, resulted in Location 1 as the best location for the installation of the warehouse for the distribution of e-commerce products. A discussion on conceptual qualitative divergences and the small quantitative divergence of results is also included in the conclusions. Full article

The management of the global energy resources has stimulated the emergence of various agreements in favor of the environment. Among the most famous are the Conference of Parties (COP) and Route 2030, which aim to limit global warming to 1.5 °C by reducing the energy consumption and global emission levels. In order to comply with the international standards for energy consumption and pollutant emissions, the Brazilian government has been promoting the expansion of biofuels in the national energy matrix. Considering this scenario, the development of a novel internal combustion engine for the exclusive use of ethanol as a fuel, equipped with state-of-the-art technologies and employing modern design concepts, consists of an innovative and promising pathway for future Brazilian mobility, from both environmental and technological outlooks. In this sense, this work presents a method to determine the main engine dimensions as part of the initial process for a new ethanol prototype engine development. The Brazilian biofuel was selected due to its physicochemical properties, which allow the engine to achieve higher loads, and also due to its large availability as a renewable energy source in the country. Furthermore, a port water injection system was fitted to the engine in order to assist the combustion process by mitigating the knock tendency. The predicted overall engine performance was obtained by carrying out a GT-Power^TM 1D-CFD simulation, whose results pointed to a maximum torque of 279 Nm from 2000 to 4000 rpm and an indicated peak power of 135 kW at 5500 rpm. With a maximum water-to-fuel ratio of 19.2%, the engine was able to perform its entire full load curve at the MBT condition, a fact that makes the WI approach along with the ethanol fuel a very attractive solution. As a result of the specific design and optimization of each geometric parameter for this unique ethanol engine, a maximum indicated fuel conversion efficiency of 45.3% was achieved. Moreover, the engine was capable of achieving over 40% of the indicated fuel conversion efficiency in almost its entire full load curve. Full article

Recently, Brazil became the biggest soybean producer and exporter in the world. The state of Pará, located in the Brazilian amazon biome, became one of the last agricultural frontiers of the country, which positively increased the soybean cultivation along it is territory. However, it is necessary to know the associated environmental impacts along the supply chain. Thus, we are applying the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology using openLCA software to two producing regions: northeast pole (Paragominas) and south pole (Redenção). Based on the cradle to grave scope, the Recipe Midpoint (H) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methods of the environmental impact categories were used. To calculate the land use change (LUC), we used the BRLUC regionalized model (v1.3). The obtained results showed that LUC was mainly responsible for the global warming potential (GWP) along all soybean supply chains, especially when land occupied with tropical forests was adapted for growing soybeans. Despite the largest distance between the origin and destiny (road + railway = 1306 km), the soybean produced in the south pole (Redenção) is better shipped through the TEGRAM port of São Luis–Maranhão due to the use of multimodal platforms (lorry + train), allowing for a more efficient logistical performance (greater loads of grains transported and less environmental impact). The soybean produced in northeast pole (Paragominas) is better shipped through the ports around Barcarena–Pará due to the short distance by road (average 350 km) and hence less environment impact. Full article

The study reports the CO₂ emissions from diesel combustion in the following stages of the Brazilian ethanol supply chain: (a) agricultural operations (management), (b) sugarcane transportation to the mill, and (c) biofuel transportation to the destination. To assess the sensitivity of the results to different origins, five regions representative of ethanol production were selected, and the final destination was the port of Santos. The transportation stage from the mill to the port included the possible effects of using multimodal alternatives, such as road–rail and road–pipeline. The results indicate that diesel consumption varies greatly by region of origin, and agricultural management, such as tilling, planting, and harvesting operations, accounts for about 70% of total diesel emissions to the ethanol supply chain. Rail and pipeline transportation are ultimately important for mitigating emissions from fuel consumption in logistics corridors for exporting ethanol. It is a valuable contribution to supporting private actions and public policies related to the mitigation of emissions in the logistic stages of bioethanol, especially related to the optimization of the agricultural management process and improvement of the multimodal transport infrastructure, respectively. It is also a lesson to countries intending to produce ethanol from sugarcane. Full article

Port environmental management initiatives have not yet been properly implemented in Brazilian public ports, and when they exist, they are still very fragmented and are not based on techniques of planning or environmental management, but instead are only intended to answer the minimum requirements of the legal licensing process for construction and port operation. The purpose of this article was to analyze if environmental licensing can be considered an environmental management tool for Brazilian public ports. For this, exploratory research with a qualitative focus was carried out in the 37 Brazilian public ports, regarding the current situation of environmental licensing. It was concluded that the environmental licensing of public ports in Brazil is still a long process and associated with a lot of unpredictability, where some ports, after many years, do not even have the proper operating licenses and the environmental management of most public ports is still insufficient or even non-existent. In this context, environmental licensing can be considered a management tool; however, it cannot be replaced by the planning and constant improvement of environmental compliance—both those provided for by law and other environmental regulatory mechanisms—at a national and international level. Full article

The inefficiency of Brazil’s logistics system to handle the outflow of farm products impairs the sector’s performance. From the economic perspective, the high freight rates put the country’s agricultural sector at a competitive disadvantage in the global market. Besides this, the reliance on highway transport causes problems of an environmental (high ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ emissions) and social nature (large occurrence of accidents). As an alternative to this dependence, Brazil has an extensive network of actually and potentially navigable rivers that could serve as a key element to improve the performance of the agricultural sector. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyze the possible influence of the Tapajós-Teles Pires Waterway on the sustainable performance of 19 Brazilian soybean export routes, using data envelopment analysis (DEA). Of these, only three would use the Tapajós-Teles Pires Waterway, which is not yet in operation. The origins of the routes are four soybean-producing centers located in Mato Grosso, the Brazilian state that produces the most soybeans, destined for 12 seaports. The inputs considered are Accident Cost and CO2 Emissions, while the output is Cargo Carried per US$. For this, we use the DEA-VRS (Variable Return Scale) input-oriented model. The results obtained from the DEA model revealed satisfactory performance of the routes using the Tapajós-Teles Pires Waterway from three of the four production centers. In Campo Novo do Parecis, some 16% (471 km) of the route is composed of highways and the rest of the waterway (84%, 1576 km). In Sorriso, only 3% (85 km) of the route consists of highways, while waterway transport is responsible for 97% (2388 km), and in Querência, 24.55% of the route to the Port of Barcarena consists of highways. The use of these routes and the combination of the two transport modes presented the best efficiency indexes, making development of the waterway a key element to improve the outflow of soybeans for export. The results of this study may help Brazilian authorities to define public policies and apply resources to improve the deficiencies of the transportation system, which can lead to a better balance of the Brazilian transportation matrix. Full article