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Life-Cycle In Brazil

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Brazil remains the largest country in South America and the Southern hemisphere. The country shares borders with all other South American countries except Chile and Ecuador (Figure 1). Since independence in 1822, the population of Brazil has followed an increasing trend estimated at over 204 million as at July, 2015 (CIA Fact Book, 2016). The combination of good climate which is mostly tropical but temperate in the south, vast natural resources and a large labour pool has made Brazil the largest economy and a regional leader in South America. Since the military regime ceded power to the Civilian in 1985, Brazil has continued to harness its resources for industrial and agricultural growth. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in Brazil …show more content…

Other difficulties faced are recurring droughts in north eastern Brazil, occasional frost in the southern region and deforestation in the Amazon Basin which destroys the habitat and endangers a multitude of plant and animal species indigenous to the area. Additionally, air and water pollution in Rio de Janeiro and other large cities, land degradation and water pollution caused by improper mining activities, wetland degradation, and severe oil spills are areas of concern.

There is need to proffer solutions to these aforementioned challenges through proper planning and implementation of growth driven policies. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a reliable technique that can be used for sustainable planning. Researchers in Brazil have applied LCA techniques in a number of sectors to provide reliable information for planning and policy making purposes. This paper reviews the various assessments carried out in Brazil using LCA. The main aim being to determine the availability of LCA studies in Brazil and the status of quantitative environmental assessments in the

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