|
|
 |
 |
Industrial Development |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
[Back]
Power Generation
Motor Vehicles
Aircraft Industry
Aerospace Industry
Power
Generation
Brazil's
electricity is almost entirely generated by water power
even though a considerable proportion of the nation's
hydroelectric potential remains untapped. The prodominance
of hydroelectricity is explained by the existence of
large-volume rivers and the relatively small size of
Brazil's coal and petroleum reserves. In 1996, 92 percent
of all the electric power generation was hydroelectric
and the remainder was thermal and geothermal.
The
national power system is composed of two interconnected
grids, one for the north and northwest and the other
for the south, southeast and central west. Total hydropower
potential amounts to 259.7 gigawatts, of which only
25 percent has been tapped or will have been once the
power plants currently under construction are finished.
Privatizing generation and distribution, liberalizing
grid access, and permiting large consumers to choose
their energy suppliers are all expected to increase
the development of the vast potential of the Brazilian
electricity sector in the near future.
[Top]
Motor
Vehicles
The
renewed dynamism and modernization of the Brazilian
automotive industry are broadly attributed to trade
liberalization which began in 1990, the introduction
of economy models in 1993, and the start of the Real
Plan in July 1994. In the seven years since 1990, Brazil
has moved up from tenth to eighth place in world output.
In 1997 it produced more than two million vehicles and
earned almost US $5 billion from exports; motor vehicles
accounted for almost 10 percent of the total value of
Brazil's exports for the year. By the turn of the century
it is expected that Brazil will be one of the five largest
automotive producers in the world. In 1997, almost 64
percent of the vehicles exported went to MERCOSUL countries,
with Argentina accounting for 75 percent of the exports
to this common market. Vehicle imports totaled just
over 303,000, of which 85 percent were imported by manufacturers
and 15 percent by dealers.
[Top]
Aircraft
Industry
In
1899, four years before Wilbur and Orville Wright flew
a heavier-than-air machine at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina,
Alberto Santos Dumont, a Brazilian, piloted a dirigible
that left from the field of the Aero Club of France,
circled the Eiffel Tower, and returned to its base in
29.5 minutes. It was a 7 mile (11 km) trip. In 1906,
before official witnesses and a large crowd in Paris,
Santos Dumont won the Taça Archdeacon Prize when
he flew a self-propelled, heavier-than-air machine for
820 feet (250 meters).
Although
a Brazilian was one of aviation's first pioneers, the
aircraft industry in Brazil only began in earnest 20
years ago. Today the success of planes wholly designed
and manufactured in Brazil, mainly by Embraer, and exported
to countries on every continent, makes Brazil's aircraft
industry one of the largest in the world. The greatest
number of Embraer's planes have been sold to customers
in the United States (more than 500 aircraft currently
in service) and in Europe. Embraer's Tucano a turboprop
military trainer, is used by the Brazilian Air Force
and in the air forces in twelve other countries including
France and the United Kingdom. In 1998 thirteen customers
in nine countries, including three in North America
-- American Eagle, Continental Express, and Trans States
Airlines -- ordered Embraer's ERJ-145, a 50-seat regional
jet. Embraer's purchase of components creates over 6,000
American jobs as well as jobs in Spain, Belgium and
Chile.
[Top]
Aerospace
Industry
The
Brazilian aerospace industry has also experienced growth.
Through the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and the National
Institute of Space Research (NPE), it has been involved
in the Brazilian Space Program which comprises the construction
of satellites and the launching of space vehicles, as
well as wide-ranging collaboration with NASA to integrate
Brazil's participation in the International Space Station.
Brazil's SCD-2, a data collection satellite which collects
environmental and meteorological information from platforms
in Brazil and other South American countries, was successfully
launched in October 1998 from Cape Canaveral. The Brazilian
VLS (Satellite Launcher Vehicle) is expected to be launched
in 1999. Brazil's space industry will contribute hardware,
such as the Earth Observation Window, and scientific
modules to the International Space Station.
[Top]
|
|
|
|
|
