# Toward More Sustainable River Transportation in Remote Regions of the Amazon, Brazil  
[PERSON]  
Departamento de Engenharia Naval, Escola Superior de Tecnologia, Universidade do Estado do Amazonas, Manaus 69050-020, Brazil; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (J.V.H.-F.); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (H.W.S.M)  
Email: {[EMAIL_ADDRESS] (J.V.H.-F.); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (H.W.S.M)  
[PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON] Toward More Sustainable River Transportation in Remote Regions of the Amazon, Brazil. April. 2021, 2027. [[https://doi.org/10.3390/appl11052077](https://doi.org/10.3390/appl11052077)]([https://doi.org/10.3390/appl11052077](https://doi.org/10.3390/appl11052077))  
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Footnote 1: [[https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci](https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci)]([https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci](https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci))  
Footnote 2: [[https://www.mdpi.com/journals/pdf/10/](https://www.mdpi.com/journals/pdf/10/)]([https://www.mdpi.com/journals/pdf/10/](https://www.mdpi.com/journals/pdf/10/))  
To improve the efficiency of boats used for river transport, factors related to the reduction of hydrodynamic resistance and improving the propulsion system must be addressed [22]. To find the optimal configuration of a specific boat for different operational conditions, detailed analyses of the interaction of the hull, engine, shaft, and propeller are required, as described by [23; 24]. This generally requires advanced study, not often found in the small shipyards of remote river communities [25], where the components of a propulsion system are often selected based on previous empirical experience [12], with outboard engines being the most common choice for small riverboats. One means of improving the performance of boats is to implement permanent modifications to the hull, perhaps by optimization methods. This could possibly lessen the hydrodynamic resistance [22; 26; 27; 28; 29; 30; 31] and fuel consumption for specific operational conditions. Small modifications to the shape of the hull of an existing boat could easily be carried out in any small shipyard, even in a remote river community, and bring a permanent improvement to increase the performance of the boat [32]. Another area that can be looked into is the incorporation of hybrid technologies, that is, combining clean, renewable energy with traditional fossil fuels [22; 33; 34; 35; 36].  
Research on improving hull shape is not new [28; 29]. In fact, several works have investigated the optimization of ship hulls and the effects this has on performance [26; 37; 38; 39; 40; 41]. Such optimization is commonly carried out using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods, which are often applied in algorithms that allow numerical tests to be performed to reduce the hydrodynamic resistance of a vessel in various operational conditions, as reported by [37; 38; 40]. Similar work has examined the optimization of the hulls of ocean renewable energy devices [42; 43; 44], large commercial ships [45; 46], and high-speed vessels [47; 48]. Aside from hull optimization methods, other means could increase the performance and sustainability of small transport vessels. In this study, we aim to fill this gap. An integrated study is proposed to explore different ways of improving the efficiency and sustainability of existing boats that perform river transport activities in remote regions of developing countries. In many such cases, attaining sustainability is crucial in the face of environmental and socioeconomic restrictions. This paper examines the case of transporting school students by small boats in riverine communities in the Amazon region.  
The study is divided as follows: Section 2 describes the main considerations to improve the efficiency of the boats. Then, Section 3 presents some challenges of scholar transport in the Amazon region, including a brief discussion of possible environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Finally, Section 4 presents different means of improving the sustainability of the boats, and Section 5 summarizes the main conclusions.