The offshore harnessing of oil and gas resources is made possible by massive infrastructures installed at sea. At the end-of-life stage, in the absence of new uses for offshore installations, decommissioning proceedings usually take place, requiring the removal and final disposal of all materials. In Brazilian waters, decommissioning is hampered by high costs. The offshore wind-power sector has arisen as a new clean power source, in line with worldwide de-carbonization initiatives. In this context, we propose an innovative approach suggesting offshore wind power projects as an alternative to the removal and final disposal of infrastructures, a potential solution to Brazilian offshore decommissioning. In this article we report on the assessment of structures at the end of their lifecycle along with decommissioning cost estimation. Then, we explore wind turbine installation viability along the Brazilian coast and estimate the levelized cost of energy for each wind turbine. Finally, the results allow us to conduct a critical analysis of customary decommissioning versus the repurposing of infrastructures as offshore wind power project sites in two scenarios involving site repurposing. Our main results indicate that the CapEx discount rate of wind power projects offsetting decommissioning is considerable, as are the benefits of delaying decommissioning in terms of reduced carbon emissions and the social effects of increased local employment rates, through the repurposing of offshore oil and gas infrastructures.

The 2030 Agenda is made up of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets. However, when it comes to the marine and maritime environment, references are often only made to SDG 14, which limits the integrated nature of the Agenda. Therefore, this chapter aims to map the broader extent of the seas and ocean in this Agenda, within the different SDGs. As part of our approach, we will highlight the integrative and transversal perspective of the blue economy, analysing the Brazilian case. As part of the main findings, we propose that the seas and ocean should be considered far beyond SDG 14, especially due to the direct and indirect interaction of this SDG with the others. In addition, and considering the context of the UN Ocean Decade, it is necessary to understand the strategic relevance of this environment and these resources in promoting sustainable development.

Different dynamics can be observed between the renewable and fossil energy markets, suggesting the need for different approaches in the theoretical and practical field of energy security. However, in the context of the current energy transition, there is a geographic concentration of production chains of new clean energy-generating equipment, which creates new dependencies for inputs and commercial partners. Consequently, energy security is affected by the relationship with non-fuel inputs such as critical minerals. In this work, we seek to engage in documentary research followed by a quantitative analysis of data provided by the United States Geological Survey. After the presentation of the theoretical discussion about energy security, energy transition and critical minerals, we analyse documents from the energy and mineral sectors written in the period from 2000 to 2020. It is posited that the transition towards less polluting energy matrices can result in the creation of new dependencies and that access to non-fuel resources is a condition for the success of the energy transition.

This paper evaluates the performance of energy policies in the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), a regional initiative consisting of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, but also considering Venezuela (full member since mid-2012) and Bolivia (full participation under negotiation since 2015). The methodology is based on a qualitative-quantitative approach. First, we provide a critical review of the literature on energy security. Then, we carry out a comparative analysis of energy policies in Mercosur countries, concluding that there is no harmonization between them. Next, we offer the new concept of socio-environmental-energy security (SEES) as a more suitable approach to deal with current challenges, providing a hybrid quantitative indicator-based approach to the SEES index. Ergo, after defining the indicators, selecting the data, carrying out a normalization process, assigning weights and aggregating data points, the SEES composite index is generated. We suggest that energy integration can contribute to better regional performance in terms of energy policies and that the SEES index can guide policy makers and investments, replacing the old-fashioned concept of energy security.