Energy Transition: Changing the Brazilian Landscape Over Time

The energy transition associated with historical context requires us to rethink the type of energy source and the methods we should use to generate energy. Throughout history, the use and choice of energy sources determined and shaped the dynamic of the cities and countries, urbanistic process, environment, landscapes, social, economic, and political factors. Understanding the historical process helps us discuss the possibilities and urgencies, such as global warming and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, to a sustainable energy transition in a world reinventing itself at incredible speed, searching for clean and renewable energy sources. The book chapter plots a historical panorama, through literature review, from the past energy transition aspects that shaped the current Brazilian scenario, describing the main drivers and local singularities that led to the building of the current national energy mix. The book chapter brings some lessons on how (i) the appropriation of energy resources changes according to the context of the period; (ii) the design of a consistent and long-term public policy is fundamental for the development and insertion of new technologies and energy sources in the different sectors of the economy and (iii) the global economy shapes different realities. Lastly, understanding the historical context contributes directly to the present and future perspective of the energy transition going in the country presented throughout this book.