The Non-Decarbonization Puzzle in Brazilian Energy Policy

The Brazilian economy is not decarbonizing and current policies are highly unlikely to change this. Expanding and diversifying the supply of renewable energy would improve price stability and enhance energy supply and access. Why do Brazilian governments adopt policy objectives and instruments which forego the significant benefits available from ambitious decarbonization objectives, and how can we explain differences across sectors? We analyze objectives and instruments in hydropower, transport fuels, solarand wind energy. With the exception of hydropower, we find that the principle barrier to decarbonization are policy inconsistencies. In solar and, to a lesser extent, wind energy, national content requirements, a lack of R&D; subsidies for building up domestic manufacturing capacities as well as the design of electricity auctions have stymied expansion. In transport fuels, the combination of inconsistent fiscal incentives and a price cap on gasoline have weakened the bioethanol sector in recent years. Emissions from the energy system are on a long-term upwards trajectory, present policies also limit Brazil’s ability to contribute to global mitigation efforts

Using Self-Contradiction to Learn Confidence Measures in Stereo Vision

Learned confidence measures gain increasing importance for outlier removal and quality improvement in stereo vision. However, acquiring the necessary training data is typically a tedious and time consuming task that involves manual interaction, active sensing devices and/or synthetic scenes. To overcome this problem, we propose a new, flexible, and scalable way for generating training data that only requires a set of stereo images as input. The key idea of our approach is to use different view points for reasoning about contradictions and consistencies between multiple depth maps generated with the same stereo algorithm. This enables us to generate a huge amount of training data in a fully automated manner. Among other experiments, we demonstrate the potential of our approach by boosting the performance of three learned confidence measures on the KITTI2012 dataset by simply training them on a vast amount of automatically generated training data rather than a limited amount of laser ground truth data.Comment: This paper was accepted to the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 2016. The copyright was transfered to IEEE (https://www.ieee.org). The official version of the paper will be made available on IEEE Xplore (R) (http://ieeexplore.ieee.org). This version of the paper also contains the supplementary material, which will not appear IEEE Xplore (R

Brazil and the Durban Platform: ambitions and expectations

Brazil, together with other emerging powers, has repeatedly made headlines over the last few years as a serious player in international climate change negotiations. In December 2015 states will convene at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris to agree on a new international climate treaty. What can we expect from Brazil at the upcoming climate summit? What can we expect from the negotiations on a new climate treaty in the context of the Durban Platform? This issue of the GIGA Focus discusses Brazil's potential role at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference, analysing if Brazil's expected contributions can keep up with its ambitious rhetoric. Brazil's presently low emissions trajectory is a result of reduced deforestation rates. With greenhouse gas emissions from all other sources increasing, an ambitious contribution to global post-2020 mitigation requires more stringent action. However, it is unlikely that Brazil will take ambitious measures in areas other than forestry. While Brazilian climate diplomacy puts a rhetorical premium on historical responsibility, its substantive contribution to the negotiation process is only moderately progressive. The proposal of "concentric Differentiation" offers a way to implement the principle of common but differentiated responsibility in line with current realities while allowing for the obligations of Annex I (mostly developed countries) and major non-Annex I parties (mostly developing countries) to converge in the long term. The present context of the international negotiations is generally favourable towards Brazilian participation. The main challenge will be to conclude a transparency regime which facilitates collective action by allowing for adequate international review of domestic policies. To that end, the principle of common but differentiated responsibility should be implemented under the Paris agreement in a manner which aligns with the convention's long-term objective

Protestbewegungen als Motor für Brasiliens Demokratie

Im Juni 2013 haben Massenproteste das fünftgrößte Land der Welt in einem Umfang erschüttert, wie das Land sie seit Jahrzehnten nicht mehr erlebt hat. Die Proteste richteten sich unter anderem gegen den desolaten Zustand des Bildungs- und Gesundheitssystems, das schwach ausgebildete öffentliche Verkehrssystem und die politische Korruption. Trotz der hiermit verbundenen Unruhe haben sie das Potenzial, die brasilianische Demokratie nachhaltig zu stärken. Landesweite Protestbewegungen haben in Brasilien seit Beginn der Demokratisierung im Jahr 1985 stets als Impuls- und Ideengeber für politische Reformen und Innovationen gewirkt. Dies gilt für die großen sozialen Protestbewegungen in den 1980er Jahren gegen die Militärdiktatur ebenso wie für spätere, die seither eine maßgebliche Rolle im Kampf gegen HIV/AIDS und gegen Hunger und Armut gespielt haben. Bei den aktuellen Protesten geht es vor allem um die Durchsetzung von Rechtsstaatlichkeit. Das brasilianische Programm zur Bekämpfung von HIV/AIDS gilt heute weltweit als Vorbild. Zivilgesellschaftliche Organisationen waren maßgeblich an dessen Konzeption, Einführung und Umsetzung beteiligt. Auch die berühmte Null-Hunger-Strategie (Fome Zero) - im Jahr 2003 von Expräsident Lula da Silva eingeführt - geht insbesondere auf zivilgesellschaftliches Engagement zurück. Die Massenproteste im Juni 2013 gegen die politische Korruption könnten in ähnlicher Weise dringend notwendige Reformen und Innovationen anstoßen und vorantreiben. Bis zur Präsidentschaftswahl im Jahr 2014 steht die Präsidentin vor der Herausforderung, die sie stütz ende Koalition zusammenzuhalten und gleichzeitig grundsätzliche Reformen einzuleiten

FOME ZERO PARA O MUNDO: A DIFUSÃO GLOBAL BRASILEIRA DO PROGRAMA FOME ZERO

Brazil's Zero Hunger Strategy is nowadays regarded as an international model in the global fight against hunger and poverty. I will analyse the mechanisms Brazil created to allow other governments and international organisations to benefit from the experience Brazil collected in the Zero Hunger Strategy. Based on the theoretical concept of "nodal governance" I will describe four of these global governance mechanisms (the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, the WFP Centre of Excellence Against Hunger, the IBSA Trust Fund and the FAO-Brazil Trust Fund) as essential nodes which helped to 1) strengthen Brazil's exercise of influence in its international fight against hunger and poverty and 2) reinforced the global governance of food security. This analysis demonstrates how Brazil has been able to raise its profile as a leader in fighting hunger and poverty in the global South.O Programa Fome Zero brasileiro é hoje visto como um modelo internacional na luta global contra a fome e a pobreza. Analisei os mecanismos criados pelo Brasil para que outros países e organizações internacionais possam se beneficiar da experiência angariada pelo Brasil através de seu Programa Fome Zero. Baseado no conceito teórico de "governança nodal", descreverei quatro desses mecanismos de governança global (the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, the WFP Centre of Excellence Against Hunger, the IBSA Trust Fund and the FAO-Brazil Trust Fund) como nós essenciais, os quais ajudaram a 1) fortalecer o exercício brasileiro de influência na sua luta internacional contra a fome e a pobreza; e 2) reforçar a governança global em relação à segurança alimentar. Esta análise demonstra o quanto o Brasil tem sido capaz de incrementar seu perfil como um líder no combate à pobreza e à fome no Sul Global

Der Mensalão-Korruptionsskandal mit weitreichenden Folgen für Brasiliens Demokratie

Der Oberste Bundesgerichtshof Brasiliens hat zwischen August und November 2012 insgesamt 25 Politiker und Wirtschaftsführer wegen Korruption und anderen kriminellen Machenschaften zu teils drastischen Gefängnisstrafen und Geldbußen verurteilt. Das Urteil gilt als eine historische Zäsur mit weitreichenden Folgen für Brasiliens Demokratie. Monatliche Zahlungen (mensalão) an Abgeordnete sicherten Expräsident Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva am Beginn seiner ersten Amtszeit (2003-2005) die notwendigen parlamentarischen Mehrheiten. Dies mag moralisch verwerflich sein, erklärt sich aber aus der großen Fragmentierung des brasilianischen Parlaments. Obwohl der Präsident in der Verfassung mit einer großen Machtfülle ausgestattet ist, muss er sich im Alltag für die Umsetzung seiner Agenda durch einen dauernden Balanceakt Mehrheiten sichern und eine Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Interessen ausgleichen. Die Aufarbeitung des Mensalão-Skandals und die hier zutage getretene Unabhängigkeit des Obersten Bundesgerichtshofes sind ein Beweis für die fortschreitende Konsolidierung der brasilianischen Demokratie. Weder die Regierungspartei Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) noch der ehemalige Präsident Lula da Silva hatten Einfluss auf die Entscheidungen der Obersten Bundesrichter. Zumindest bisher hat der Skandal das Ansehen des ehemaligen Präsidenten selbst nicht in Mitleidenschaft gezogen. Er gilt nicht zuletzt wegen seiner beispiellosen Sozial- und Armutsbekämpfungspolitik als einer der erfolgreichsten und beliebtesten Präsidenten in der Geschichte Brasiliens. Ungeklärt bleibt, inwieweit Lula da Silva selbst in den Skandal eingeweiht war

UAV Vermessung im Bergbau - Stand der Forschung und Ausblick

Die Herstellung von optisch realistischen und hochgenauen 3D Modellen stellt eine zentrale Frage im Bereich der geodätischen und markscheiderischen Forschung dar. Mit dem zusehenden Aufkommen unbemannter Flugsysteme haben sich photogrammetrische Messsysteme als erschwingliche und flexible Alternative etabliert, wobei zur Gewährleistung definierter Genauigkeiten und somit zur Verwendung vergleichbarer Systeme für vermessungstechnische Anwendungen eine sorgfältige Flugplanung, Durchführung und Auswertung unbedingte Erfordernisse sind. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird einerseits auf die laufenden Forschungen zu Genauigkeit und Anwendbarkeit der UAV-basierten Vermessung im Bergbau eingegangen und andererseits werden zukünftige Forschungstendenzen aufgezeigt, wodurch in neue, bislang nicht erreichbare Anwendungsfelder, vorgedrungen werden könnte.Creating and visualizing realistic and accurate 3D models is a central ambition of research in the field of geodesy and mine surveying. Due to the increasing affordability of un-manned aerial vehicles (UAVs) photogrammetric systems have been well established as affordable and flexible alternative. In order to ensure a certain accuracy and thus to enable the usage for surveying applications, careful flight planning, implementation and evaluation are of special importance. This paper discusses the ongoing research on accuracy and applicability of UAV-based mine surveying as well as future research tendencies, whereby new, currently not achievable fields of application could be investigated

Meeting sustainable development goals via robotics and autonomous systems

Robotics and autonomous systems are reshaping the world, changing healthcare, food production and biodiversity management. While they will play a fundamental role in delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals, associated opportunities and threats are yet to be considered systematically. We report on a horizon scan evaluating robotics and autonomous systems impact on all Sustainable Development Goals, involving 102 experts from around the world. Robotics and autonomous systems are likely to transform how the Sustainable Development Goals are achieved, through replacing and supporting human activities, fostering innovation, enhancing remote access and improving monitoring. Emerging threats relate to reinforcing inequalities, exacerbating environmental change, diverting resources from tried-and-tested solutions and reducing freedom and privacy through inadequate governance. Although predicting future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on the Sustainable Development Goals is difficult, thoroughly examining technological developments early is essential to prevent unintended detrimental consequences. Additionally, robotics and autonomous systems should be considered explicitly when developing future iterations of the Sustainable Development Goals to avoid reversing progress or exacerbating inequalities

Meeting sustainable development goals via robotics and autonomous systems

Robotics and autonomous systems are reshaping the world, changing healthcare, food production and biodiversity management. While they will play a fundamental role in delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals, associated opportunities and threats are yet to be considered systematically. We report on a horizon scan evaluating robotics and autonomous systems impact on all Sustainable Development Goals, involving 102 experts from around the world. Robotics and autonomous systems are likely to transform how the Sustainable Development Goals are achieved, through replacing and supporting human activities, fostering innovation, enhancing remote access and improving monitoring. Emerging threats relate to reinforcing inequalities, exacerbating environmental change, diverting resources from tried-and-tested solutions and reducing freedom and privacy through inadequate governance. Although predicting future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on the Sustainable Development Goals is difficult, thoroughly examining technological developments early is essential to prevent unintended detrimental consequences. Additionally, robotics and autonomous systems should be considered explicitly when developing future iterations of the Sustainable Development Goals to avoid reversing progress or exacerbating inequalities