O gás natural como alternativa energética para os segmentos industrial e veicular em Campina Grande-PB.

Abstract

During times of energetic and environmental crises, which have been theme to discussions since the 1970’s, new challenges arise: develop and use alternative energetic sources. In the past years Brazil has driven efforts to restructure its energetic matrix, be this institutional or technological restructuration. From the technological composition perspective, the public engagement and support to investments in natural gas show that there is an option to increase the share of this resource in the national energetic matrix. However, even with the recorded growth of deposits, the Brazilian market of natural gas presents some weaknesses which need to be reduced. Such weaknesses are the dependence on importation and the lack of a national integrated system capable of adjusting the offer in all regions of the country. With this in mind, the present study aims at analyzing the main features of the Brazilian natural gas industry and its evolution in the markets of industrial natural gas and natural gas vehicle (taxicabs) in the City of Campina Grande. We will specifically identify the variables that influence the choice of consumers for the use of natural gas in the market of Campina Grande. Our choice for the two segments is due to the fact that industries and taxicabs are the two main consumers of natural gas in the country as with in the region and city. In order to achieve these objectives, we analyzed the offer conditions, transportation, distribution and consumption of natural gas so that we could assess the main features and perspectives of the national and local markets for this fuel. A descriptive exploratory research was carried out as with a case study, either of them along with natural gas consumers in the City of Campina Grande. The work presents qualitative and quantitative results which indentify the present status and tendencies which interfere in the use of natural gas by the prioritized segments.