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    A Computer Waste Bill for Rio Grande do Sul

    Friday, October 2nd, 2009

    A bill on information technology (IT) waste has been introduced in the state legislative of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) that is similar to a law adopted in 2008 by its neighbor, Paraná. The bill would require producers, distributors and vendors of “informatic equipment” to create and maintain programs for […]

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    Brazil Preparing New National Wind Atlas

    Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

    Agência Brasil reports that Eletrobrás‘ Energy Research Center (Centro de Pesquisas de Energia – Cepel) is preparing a new national wind atlas for release in late 2010.  Researchers feel that the existing wind atlas, prepared in 2001, may have greatly underestimated Brazil’s potential for electricity generation through wind.  At that time, the potential was estimated […]

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    Brazil Launches Unparalled Study of Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes

    Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

    Diseases of the circulatory system are the leading cause of death in Brazil. According to the Health Ministry (MS) there are 300,000 deaths and over one million hospitalizations per year, and hypertension and diabetes mellitus are major risk factors. Hypertension affects approximately 35% of the Brazilian population over the age of 40 years and of […]

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    Recycling Ozone-Depleting Substances

    Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

    This week the Regeneration and Recycling Center of the Northeast (Centro de Regeneração e Reciclagem do Nordeste – CRN) will be inaugurated  in the capital of Pernambuco state, Recife. The principal purpose of the CRN is to collect, purify and recycle chlorofluorocarbon 12 (CFC-12), primarily taken from old refrigerators.  The Center can also regenerate other […]

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    Brazil Invests in International Research Cooperation on Second Generation Biofuels

    Friday, May 29th, 2009

    Brazil will invest R$11.6 million (about US$ million at current exchange rates) in international research cooperation regarding second-generation biofuels with the 27 member states and the many associate states of the European Union (EU).  A request for proposals from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) calls for projects that develop new production […]

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    New Movement on Recycling Used Motor Oil Packaging in Brazil?

    Saturday, May 23rd, 2009

    Last year I posted about (slow-building) momentum in Brazil to collect and recycle the packaging that the new motor oil comes in, starting originally in 2003 in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) as a preemptive move by an industry group* and then expanded to Rio Grande do Sul (RS) in 2005, Paraná (PR) in 2007 and […]

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    Espirito Santo Adopts Law on Products Containing Heavy Metals

    Thursday, May 21st, 2009

    Last month Paraná (PR) adopted a law on mercury-containing products, now Espírito Santo (ES) has adopted a law on products containing heavy metals.  Which Brazilian state is next, and will it adopt PR’s single-substance approach, or ES’ broader wider net? Points of Confusion Article 1 of the brief ES law requires “suppliers” and distributors of […]

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    BNDES Finances “Green Polyethylene” Production

    Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

    From the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES): The BNDES approves financing of R$ 555 million for Braskem to produce sugarcane ethylene and polyethylene Ethanol Chemistry Project is the first to be supported by the Bank The BNDES approved R$ 555.6 million in financing for Braskem’s innovative project intended to produce sugarcane ethylene and polyethylene. The total […]

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    Pesticide Residue Levels in Brazilian Food

    Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

    Which fresh food sold in Brazil has been found most likely to present “irregular” pesticide residues — levels higher than those permitted by regulation, or even residues of pesticides banned or not authorized for use on the foodstuff it is found on? Peppers.  In 2008 more than 64% of the pepper samples analyzed by the […]

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    Preparing for Accidents with Hazardous Substances

    Monday, March 16th, 2009

    Recently I posted about about how Brazilian states are slowly taking up their responsibility under a 2004 federal decree to create state-level committees or commissions on the Prevention of, Preparation for and Response to Environmental Emergencies Involving Hazardous Chemicals Products (“P2R2”). I think perhaps I might have left the mistaken impressions that (1) Brazil had […]

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