Rio de Janeiro State Government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the leaders of Brazil's public-private sectors to increase the adoption of zero-emission transportation in the country.

The partners who participated in the deal include Renault-Nissan Alliance, Petrobras Distribuidora, Light, Ampla and Rio Negocios.

Under the MoU, the partners will study the possibility of producing electric vehicles (EVs) along with the infrastructure needed for running such cars in the region.

The project is part of the Rio Capital Energy Program, which is coordinated by the State Department of Economic Development, Energy, Industry and Services of Rio de Janeiro.

State Department of Economic Development, Energy, Industry and Services secretary Julio Bueno said, "We want to make sure Rio de Janeiro will be a world's reference in energy for the twenty-first century, repeating the vocation that Rio already has in the area of traditional energy."

In the last twenty years, Renault and Nissan have claimed to invest EUR4bn to develop electric cars that consume no petroleum and can be recharged on pure renewable energy.

Earlier, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have announced their plans to launch the pilot programs that use the Nissan LEAF vehicles in the city taxi fleets.