Prospect of Transition into Sustainable Energy in Developing Countries: An Analysis of Brazilian Public Programs

The cause of many environmental problems currently discussed may be imputed to current standard of production and consumption of energy, which is not consistent to the sustainable development's concept. On the other hand, energy is a key element of modern society and, without an adequate supply, its development will be limited. Thus, it is clear that the demand for energy, particularly in development countries, shall grow in coming years; so it is up to policy makers to develop mechanisms and encourage a transition into renewable (or sustainable) energy sources. At that point, the Environmental Law must operate along with the policy makers, by coordinating the necessary means to achieve predetermined goals, through public policies and programs - which are generically composed of command and control instruments and economic instruments. This study aims to illustrate those challenges with the discussion of two public programs implemented in Brazil for those purposes: "Light for All" and "Program of Incentives for Alternative Energy Sources" - PROINFRA