2025 - Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit
SIPS2025 Volume 9. Intl. Symp on Advanced Materials, Biomaterials, Manufacturing and Quasi-Crystals
| Editors: | F. Kongoli, F. Marquis, N. Chikhradze, T. Prikhna, M. Bechelany, H. Oudadesse, K. Pramanik, R. Das, E. Suhir |
| Publisher: | Flogen Star OUTREACH |
| Publication Year: | 2025 |
| Pages: | 282 pages |
| ISBN: | 978-1-998384-54-9 (CD) |
| ISSN: | 2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series) |
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WATER CONSUMPTION IN BRAZILIAN INDUSTRIAL SECTORS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Natália Pimenta1; Edna da Silva1; Paulo Assis1;1FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF OURO PRETO, Ouro Preto, Brazil;
Type of Paper: Regular
Id Paper: 330
Topic: 43
Abstract:
The continuous increase in energy demand, combined with the finiteness of fossil reserves, highlights the need for sustainable energy alternatives capable of reducing carbon emissions and mitigating environmental impacts. In this context, biomass stands out as a clean and renewable source, representing about 24% of Brazil’s domestic energy supply. However, the efficient use of biomass still faces challenges related to economic feasibility, cost reduction, mitigation of environmental impacts, and the preservation of natural resources such as water and soil. A large share of agro-industrial residues remains underutilized, generating environmental liabilities. The water consumption is one of the most critical concerns, as Brazilian industry consumes vast amounts of water annually, approximately 67.3 trillion liters of water per year, including the human supply, animal supply, manufacturing, mining, irrigated agriculture, and thermoelectricity sectors [1]. Thus, it becomes essential to develop sustainable processes and studies that evaluate the entire biomass production chain, ensuring that the environmental benefits obtained from its use are not compromised by negative effects in other areas, especially regarding water consumption, given the context of increasing water scarcity. Given this, a detailed study analyzed water usage across four key sectors in Brazil - mining, steelmaking, agriculture, and cattle ranching - based on corporate financial reports and government documents on water consumption. The data were processed, and the water consumption associated with the production of each evaluated sector was calculated. The study revealed significant differences in water volumes used relative to input tonnage in each sector. Cattle ranching and agriculture were especially water-intensive, with bovine input showing exceptionally high consumption. In contrast, the mining and steelmaking sectors demonstrated comparatively high-water reuse rates, with steel mills achieving an average reuse rate of 90%.