The IDB will help finance a 3,146-kilometer pipeline to transport natural gas from producing fields in Bolivia to consumption centers in Brazil in a project that will bring major environmental as well as economic benefits.
Bolivia has abundant reserves of natural gas, a relatively clean-burning source of energy.
For Brazil, the project will result in a substantial increase in the use of natural gas, which currently makes up just 2.4 percent of the country's energy consumption. Today, more than a third of Brazil's energy needs are being met by hydroelectric power, but the most economical sites have already been exploited and the economic and environmental costs of further development are high. Oil and other nonnatural gas fossil fuels represent another large share of energy consumption, but the public is growing concerned over their costs in terms of pollution. But recent changes allow for these functions to be delegated by the government to private or public companies. When the entire project is completed, the pipeline will carry natural gas from R o Grande in Bolivia to Porto Alegre in southern Brazil, with intermediate distribution points in S o Paulo, Curitiba, Florian polis and other cities.