Visit With Sao Paulo's Secretary of Energy

Today we had the pleasure of meeting with the state of Sao Paulo's Secretary of Energy, along with his team. We were warmly welcomed, and led to a large conference table complete with assigned name cards for each of us. After seating, sub-secretary Antonio Celso de Abreu Junior introduced himself to all of us before beginning the meeting. Secretary of Energy Joao Carlos Meirelles briefly met with us, welcoming us to the meeting before heading out to continue his energy duties elsewhere. Antonio Celso took over from this point forward.

After initial greetings, we began a an informative presentation on the Sao Paulo's energy sector. The State's goals include energy security, evolutionary chain competitiveness,  and reduction of emissions. Actions to include these goals were primarily to promote the growth of renewable energy. The state (and the world, to a larger extent) have greatly been investing in the fields of solar and wind, with the former leading the way. In contrast, ethanol has seen a 42% decline in investments over the same time period, suggesting that a plateau has been reached for ethanol consumption and potential. We then explored how Sao Paulo compared to the world in alternative energy use, and it stacked up quite well: Worldwide, 81% of power comes from fossil fuels, with 14% from renewables and and the remaining 5% from nuclear. Sao Paulo, on the other hand, uses fossil fuels for only 42% of its power, and a staggering 58% from renewables. Out of the total energy supply, around 64% is imported, while 36% is produced in the state. Of the power created domestically, 69.7% is due to sugarcane biomass plants. Sao Paulo uses 74% of domestic power itself while the remaining 26% is exported. It was amazing to see these breakdowns, as it validates the claims that Brazil, and to a larger extent the state of Sao Paulo, as the world leader in alternative energy.

Everyone loves to talk about saving energy, but it's difficult to change the lifestyles of a population. Political entities must develop creative programs and incentives in order to motivate citizens to embrace the renewable movement, and Sao Paulo has done just that. One innovative idea is the Balancing Energy System, which regulates how energy is stored and used in peak vs low times and adjusts customers costs accordingly. For example, if more energy is created than consumed over a given time period, consumers get credits that can affect power bills. This excess power is stored, and later used when consumption demand is higher than the energy being created. Another policy, called Shared Generation, allows groups of homeowners to install a microgenerator and use this to reduce their cumulative energy bills. To do so, homeowners must live in the same area, buying power from the same power company. This particular idea seems so foreign to me. I can't imagine any power company in the US allowing customers to simply generate a portion of their power on their own, in order to reduce power costs. However, it's completely possible I just don't fully understand how the entire program works.

Sao Paulo truly is a world leader in alternative energy technology, creating the road map for the rest of humanity in the effort to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Antonio Carlos mentioned that this was not a simple change to implement on a large scale, as its difficult to adjust the mindset of a population in favor of power that is more expensive, who's ecological impact is largely unseen to the public eye. I greatly respect the focus that the Secretary and his team have put on this issue, and hope that other nations will follow this blueprint in the future. With a goal of being completely fossil fuel independent in 25 years, Sao Paulo is proving that it can be done - we just need to pull the trigger.

PS: An article was written about our visit that can be found on the government website. Pretty cool to be named in a document on an official website like this. It can be found here:

http://www.energia.sp.gov.br/lenoticia.php?id=1822

How Views of Alt Energy Has Changed During this Course

Everyone on this trip is interested in alternative energy to some degree. I believe most people are, and agree that fossil fuels are harming the environment. It's great to think of a futuristic, blue-skies world powered using sunlight, wind, and water. We've seen progress over our own lifetimes in these developments, from solar power becoming more attractive to homeowners, hypothetical mega-wind farms, to hybrid/hydro/electric vehicles rising to a significant market. When I first began this course, I assumed this would be the way of the future, and it was only a matter of time when we flipped the switch from fossil fuels to renewable, and the impending crisis would be averted. If I've learned one thing from this course, it's that this isn't the case at all. Or at least it won't be that easy.

The biggest eye opener is that renewable energy simply doesn't add up enough to cover our current lifestyles. Even if we covered the deserts in solar panels, covered the countrysides in wind turbines, put off-shore wind farms in the most opportune places, grew biofuel crops in every fertile area, began using wave power and dammed our largest waterfalls, it might be able to barely replace our current consumption methods (The book notes several reputable institutes estimation of realistic renewable energy use for Britain, which was around 15 kWh per day - A fraction of the current 180 kWh used today by the average person). This all includes vast idealistic assumptions, and I don't see any of these assumptions coming true, as large scale energy methods will be viewed as noisy, ugly, and wasteful in the eyes of the voters. This isn't even considering rising economies such as Brazil, China, and various other countries with high populations that will begin using energy at a much higher rate in the future.

In addition to the realization that the total sum of renewable sources still may not be enough globally, I also had some incorrect views on the individual sources themselves. I had no idea that hydropower was so prevalent or powerful. I had always viewed it as one of the smaller sources of energy, but in reality it is one of the most reliable and resourceful possibilities available to us. In contrast, I had made the opposite assumption about solar. Intuitively, I thought that since there's always sunlight, solar power must be the way to go. After learning about the efficiency of panels (around 10% right now) and how volatile these plants are in regards to location, time of day, and orientation, solar seems like a piece to the puzzle, but surely not the answer. Wind seems so vastly available and strong in many areas, but even this method is so inefficient it would only make a small dent in total energy generation. 

The switch to alternative energy will be a combination of many methods, but even then it may not be enough. It raises a serious question of what the next step is in our quest to move away from non-renewable sources of energy. Is the answer developing more efficient technology in converting natural sources to electricity? Do we need to ration fossil fuels, and accept that we may never be able to completely move away from them with our current lifestyle and consumption? Or is the answer somewhere else, such as nuclear, or something futuristic such as fusion technology (or something really sci-phy like Dyson-spheres, where we basically encase a sun in solar panels to collect 100% of its energy)? The next few years may force our hand to develop these new technologies, or begin changing the public persona in regards to alternative methods and energy consumption. 

HW #3: Police Legitimacy In Rio's Favelas and Relation to Brazilian Culture

One theme that continues to arise during our Brazilian culture learning is that of corruption within the governing powers of Brazil. Nowhere is this more prevalent than the favelas, and specifically the large, drug-trafficking run communities of Rio de Janiero. The corruption in these areas make it impossible for Brazil to improve the favelas, as it is simply easier, safer, and more profitable for the authorities to work with the gang members than to launch a full assault. As a result, no real progress is ever made, leading to a rift in trust between the inhabitants of the favela and their own state government.

"Performances of Police Legitimacy in Rio's Hyper Favela" does a great job of explaining how the illusion of the war on drugs is created by the police, media, and drug traffickers. Gang members are often alerted days ahead of a drug raid (usually by an inside source), allowing the leaders to escape, sit back from afar, or plan accordingly. The gangs understand that the police must kill traffickers and collect narcotics in order to look legitimate in the eyes of the media, and use this info to minimize their own losses in both bodies and strength as a result of these police raids. In one case noted in the reading, the gangs left two tons of marijuana for the police to find, allowing the state's raid to appear successful (photos of helicopters lifting huge amounts of drugs out of the ally's in nets dangling below, great for the front page of the news paper), consequently ending the police effort before any real battles were fought, even described as "non-confrontational" in the article. Those who live in the favelas daily understand that this is all for show, and that the police really have no power within the area.

This idea of hopelessness in the war on drugs is greatly shown in the movie "The City of God". In the film, Lil' Ze grows up to run the drug gangs. From a young age, he learned from amateur gangsters, eventually breaking into drug trafficking and becoming the most powerful man in the city. After killing off all of his enemies, Lil Ze has complete control of the favela, which ironically leads to a relatively peaceful time for the community, as it is for once undivided. As rifts grow within his drug ring as a result of various events, an opposing gang begins to form, leading to an all-out war tearing the city into sections. There is a common theme of police corruption in the film, as it is shown that the police are supplying the gangs with guns, as well as receiving payments (portions of the drug money) in order to look the other way and allowing the trafficking operation to continue smoothly. All of these ideas come to a point at the end of the movie when Lil Ze is finally arrested, but as our main character Rocket soon discovers, this is all for media show. As soon as Lil Ze is brought into the station, he is immediately unhand-cuffed and begins discussing payments with the officers. Lil Ze is above the law, allowed to run free killing and doing as he pleases, while the police arrest and kill smaller gang members in order to appear to be making progress in eliminating the two groups.

Overall, both the article and movie this week demonstrated how large the issue of corruption truly is in Brazil's favelas. Police work with the gangs, receiving payments in order to allow the drug trafficking operations to continue. This makes the leaders invulnerable, and ultimately the police's effort futile, as they do the bare-minimum to appear legitimate in the eyes of the media and the world.

The Second Mother and How it Relates to Brazilian Culture

Brazilian culture, while difficult to define on its own, is identified in the fact that it has been influenced from many civilizations, ultimately becoming unique itself. The cordial man represents this ideology, and metaphorically represents the Brazilian way of life. The cordial man is family oriented, places a high value in quality of life, and is far more open about body and soul than their North American counter-parts. This is almost anti-American of sorts, in contrast with American's high paced work ethic, emphasis on community rather than family (or at least more so than South American cultures) and inability to show emotions and inhibitions as openly as those in Brazil. These ideas shape the activities and lifestyle of the Brazilian people, and can be seen throughout the culture in the media, social interactions, and everyday life.

The movie "The Second Mother" we watched Friday night exhibited multiple examples of cordiality, from varying points of view. The film focuses on Val, a maid for a wealthy Brazilian family. After many years of work raising Barbara and Dr. Carlos' son Fabinho, Val's daughter Jessica visits as she prepares for her university entrance exam in Sao Paulo. As time goes on, a rift grows between Barbara and Jessica, as the mother views Jessica as a threat to her family and way of life. The theme of family, is key throughout the film, as Dona Barbara struggles to maintain her grip on her loved ones. It is evident that Val is the true mother figure to Fabinho, as she has raised him his entire life. In addition, Dr. Carlos' lust for Jessica causes friction within the household. In many ways, he shares many of the same traits as the traditional cordial man. He does not work, instead relying on an inheritance to fund his passions of art and academia, while his pursuit of the maid's daughter shows his way of living freely, without restraint.

The cordial man is also prominent in Val, as she grows throughout the film. At the beginning, she is incredibly focused on her work, in order to provide for a family at home that she hasn't seen in ten years. This is very similar to the American concept that the cordial man opposes, and we see Val shift towards this more relaxed view of life as the movie progresses. When Jessica arrives, it becomes evident that her daughter is the most important aspect of Val's life. As events progress, and the bond between mother and daughter strengthens, Val eventually decides to quit her longtime job. This shows her becoming the cordial man metaphorically, as she  becomes more invested in family and quality of life rather than work and the community.

In total, "The Second Mother" exhibits many traits of cordiality as mentioned in "Roots of Brazil". Two characters move down parallel paths, while in opposite directions. In many ways we see the values of Brazilian culture, shown by both the treatment on Val throughout the film, and changing values of the characters throughout.

Tonon Bioenergy 18/7/16

Today we trekked out to Tonon Bioenergy, an ethanol plant about 3 hours northwest of Sao Paulo. Unlike the jungled mountains of the Henry Borden hydroplant, the area around Tonon was primarily farm land, with rolling hills covered with crops and livestock. In a way, it reminded me of upstate New Hampshire and Vermont, with long, straight highways splitting fields and mountains. If it wasn't for the palm trees, I could almost convince myself it was the northeast. This is the obvious location for an ethanol plant, as plenty of open and fertile farmland is needed for the endless sugarcane fields.

Sugarcane Juice Extraction Process

The the process begins with harvested sugarcane. The juice is then extracted from the plant, mainly by crushing. This first process yields nearly 70% of the sugarcane juice. An additional four steps are needed to extract the remaining 30%, leaving bagasse (the dry, organic remnants) while the canejuice is pumped to large tanks elsewhere on the plant. The bagasse is then sent to a boiler where the water is boiled, producing steam, which in turn powers a turbine and creating electricity. This power is used throughout the entire plant, and the excess is sold to the grid (which is around 40 MW). The collected sugarcane juice is then fermented and distilled, which is then separated into two groups: one which is further processed into ethanol, while the rest is made into the sugar products we use on a daily basis. Sugar is one of (if not the) largest export in Brazil, and a large source of Tonon Bioenergy's profits.

The plan'ts campus was impressive in scale. The machinery was huge, with sprawling catwalks and boilers several stories high. The entire place smelled like incredibly potent sugar, leaving a sweet/mostly terrible smell. At times I nearly gagged. The thought of drinking a Coke while walking through this campus made me want to throw up, but I'm sure (I hope) you'd get use to it if exposed to that sensory overload on a daily basis. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see most of the plant's operations, as the areas were too dangerous for us to enter. We were primarily limited to seeing the infrastructure only, while the guides explained what section of the process each machine fulfilled.

Sugarcane Harvester 

The tour concluded with a walk through the nearby sugarcane fields. We were able to see the harvesting process in action, which was done using this bad larry (left). Saws above cut the cane to the appropriate height, while the 'drill' looking machines direct the cane under the machine where it is cut and ultimately shot out of a shoot in the back into large canisters (similar to a lawnmower), which are towed parallel during the operation. Paulo, one of our tour guides, cut some of the raw sugarcane for us to taste and/or eat. It was sweet, but I could take it or leave it. I'd give it a 5/10 tasty-rating.

Henry Borden Hydroelectric Powerplant

Earlier today we visited the Henry Borden power plant in Cubatao. The facility was located deep in the mountains in a forested region, which resulted in some great views and scenery during both the bus ride and tour. The winding road through the mountains, with views of rainforests and waterfalls, looked like a fake postcard you buy at the airport in order to convince your friends you're having more fun than you actually are. All in all, the views alone were worth the trip. Easily cracks my top 5 mountain views of all-time.

My initial expectations of the plant were a lot wetter than reality. I didn't know what to expect, but figured there'd be more splashing water and rushing channels. I'm sure it was there, but it was very well contained in the dam's infrastructure. Wouldn't even know water was involved if I didn't know this was a hydroelectric plant. This was an exciting tour, as I had no idea what this type of powerplant would look like, how the equipment was set up, or how the facility would be laid out. In this respect, the entire tour was new and adventurous. Its amazing that mankind can manipulate nature this way in order to benefit our power needs. Just up and moved a giant waterfall, directed it down pipes exactly where we wanted it, then made electricity that powers the world. Incredible.

Our friend Robert told us that the plant can generate up to 900 MW of power, which I believe is significant for a hydroplant. Compared to the 1.1 MW of the solar plant (granted it was primarily research, but for the sake of comparison) this was an eye opening number. They have the ability to control the water flow to allow for energy generation based on the current power needs, of which currently is around 500 MW. This power is then sold to a distributor nearby, who sells it to multiple states within Brazil. However, being that the entire operation is dependent on a resource (water/rain) that is not always dependable, the system is very susceptible to droughts and/or natural disasters. Obviously a lack of water would shut down the process, but what if a storm overfilled the reservoir? Would this lead to catastrophic failure of the pipes and turbines? Would it spill over and destroy the entire complex? Is there a way to counteract something like this? Or is this just not a possibility in Cubatao Brazil? Who knows, but makes you think.

The 'external' turbine room was pretty interesting to see. The scale of the shell used to catch the water was staggering. Each one must have been 15' in diameter, and the turbine shafts were 3 feet of solid steel (this is assumed, probably some kind of steel-hybrid). There were 8 turbines for the external operation, which in total produced 460 MW of power. Every day during the week they test one of the turbines for general maintenance, to check for cracks and any malfunctions. This is done with a magnetic power thrown into the nozzle, with magnets dragging the powder into any imperfections.

The internal operation was my favorite part of the tour. We walked into some lighted cave deep into a jungled mountain, and keep going down. These turbines rotate in the vertical axis, rather than horizontal like the external ones, which I assume is most beneficial based on the water flow underground.

Overall, I really enjoyed the trip to the Henry Borden plant today. Hydroelectric is an incredibly viable source of power, and completely renewable as long as nature allows. The location was amazing to see, and the views were worth it alone. Hardhats made us all look like legit engineers. All in all, it was a great and unique experience, and I really came away with a better understanding of how hydroelectric power is generated and applied in the working world.

Alt Energy HW #3 - CPFL Power Plant

The CPFL Power Plant tour was a great way to gain some first hand experience with alternative energy in the working world. When we first approached the campus, it had a futuristic and innovative feel, which I thought was an interesting contrast to most boring, concrete, corporate buildings in the US. This theme continued into the information room, which chronologically displayed energy tech through the past few centuries (including the cool interactive floor).

The control center may have been my favorite portion of the tour. It had a very CIA vibe to it, with 20 or so engineers monitoring all kinds of data on huge screens; the true puppeteers behind the citizens' electricity and everyday lives. I immediately understood some graphs, such as weather tracking and grid monitoring. However, their Smart Metering System was new to me. From what I understood, this process was primarily to keep data flowing between their control centers and monitoring stations. If one section of the grid went down, or data was cut off at some section, the system would realign itself, reassigning individual houses and business to a new 'hub' in order to minimize downtime and data-tracking. I thought this was a really creative concept, and it made me wonder if its possible to apply this smart technology elsewhere. Imagine if a tree fell on a powerline, and the grid automatically could reassign power 'paths' in order to account for break, while still providing power to the affected region? I'm not sure how the infrastructure for this would work though...

Our final portion of the trip was to CPFL's solar farm a few miles away. It was significantly smaller than I anticipated, with only one hector of area for the entire complex. My biggest takeaway from the day was that at none of these clean alternatives really provide that much power without grand-scale implementation. This solar farm in particular generated only 1.1 MW of power, but much of its purpose is for solar research. The majority of the plant's solar panels were 1st generation silicon based cells, operating at 9.1% efficiency (which matched the in-class reading's estimation of around 10% for most mass produced solar panels). CPFL also had a few of the newer, more efficient panels, some of which rotated (in an east-west plane) with the sun. Their solar operation was a lot smaller in comparison to their biomass, wind, and hydro operations. It seems solar is an up and coming project for Brazil, but not yet at a point where it can be relied on to provide significant power to the region.

Finally, we got an opportunity to drive one of their electric cars. Fundamentally it felt the same as driving any standard transmission vehicle. However, once I began getting it moving down the road, it noticeably felt 'lacking' when compared to gas powered cars. The top speed was only 100 km/h, which is roughly equal to 60 mph, enough to keep up with traffic on the highway, but not enough to get anywhere when you're running late. In addition, the battery lasts only 60 miles, and takes (6?) hours to charge, using the home charging station of 240 volts. I couldn't see myself using one of these for everyday life, but rather as a car to get around the city, in short distances and commutes.

GE1201 Homework #1

Energy efficiency is one of the hottest topics worldwide. It seems every day we hear about a new electric car on the news, see videos of theoretical power plants on Facebook, and advertisements advising various ways to conserve energy in our everyday lives. Globally, energy is consumed on a massive scale, and although a future crisis seems abstract, it is important to monitor how, where, and who uses all of this power to better predict and maintain sustainable economies and environments.

Table 1 shows world total primary energy supply (TPES) in Million tonne of oil equivilent (Mtoe) over time, while comparing how the major energy sources contribute to this total. A quick look at this graph shows that global energy consumption has risen significantly over the past 40 years, from approximately 5500 Mtoe (1971) to nearly 14,000 Mtoe (2013). Additionally, all major sources of energy (coal, oil, natural gas, biofuels, hydro and nuclear) have increased in total usage over the same period of time. Nuclear and biofuel power appear to have had the greatest increase in usage, but still are not nearly as popular a source as the big three of coal, oil and natural gas. This data shows that over the last 40 years, the world TPES has increased significantly. Although greenhouse gas producers have risen in total, 'green energy' has increased as well. This suggests that we will continue to see more and more sources of clean energy implemented in the future, to help accommodate the trend of a worldwide increase in energy consumption. 

Economic advancements play a huge roll in energy consumption. Intuitively, it would be expected that countries with the largest population, and the most technology, will require the most power. Table 1.5 shows that the United States and Japan accounted for 24% and 5% of the world energy consumption in 2002 respectively. In contrast, they contain 4.6% and 2% of the world population. This can be explained by looking at each counties respective World GDP %, of 32% and 12%. Advanced economies control the majority of the worlds wealth, and this is due to technological advancements that in large part consume more and more energy. Figure 1.7 compares Energy Consumption per Capita vs GNP per Capita (US$) for various countries.As expected, countries with the largest amount of GNP per Capita primarily use the most energy, as the U.K, Germany, France, and Sweden fall right on the trendline. The United States appears to be an out layer, as it consumes 300GJ per capita, while France consumes 150 GJ with a similar GNP. Japan takes this a step farther, consuming around 125 GJ while possessing around $25,000 GNP. This would suggest that Japan and France are far more efficient than the US, or simply live less lavish life styles. 

In contrast, the second highest user of global energy consumption is China, accounting for 11%. However, this is likely in large part driven by its large population of 20% worldwide. Developing countries with large populations, such as China and Brazil, will likely see huge spikes in their future energy needs as more technology is introduced to and consumed by their hundreds of millions of people every day. As shown in Figure 1.7, China is near the bottom in terms of energy consumption vs GNP. As a developing nation with a huge population, the average person will not control much of the countries wealth, and without the same technological opportunities as economies such as the US and Japan, won't use a significant amount of energy on a daily basis. This will likely rise in the future as China's economy develops, but due to their large population, and assuming development will initially take place primarily in urban areas only, China likely won't be able to stray as far north of the trendline as counties such as the USA and Canada. 

Using the online quiz, my personal carbon footprint is 24 tons of C02 per year, just slightly under the US average of 27. My home energy consumption has room for improvement, which makes sense while living in a rundown college apartment in Boston. The place doesn't hold heat well, the windows are terrible at insulating, it doesn't heat evenly or efficiently, and many of the lightbulbs cannot be changed over to energy efficient bulbs. I seem to do a good job with recycling and waste, while being slightly above average with my driving and flying. This is likely due to a 40 minute coop commute and 3 significant flights over the past year. When estimated for my future use, my estimated use came out at 21 tons of C02. The largest gain was in home and energy, where I expect to use energy efficient bulbs and appliances, in addition to any new technology that allows me to make energy saving easier. I hope I'll be getting better gas mileage than my current Nissan Maxima, so that should help as well. In addition, as recycling becomes more mainstream, I hope to do so whenever possible. 

Expectations of Living in Brazil

When I decided to pursue a dialog this summer, the element of adventure was as influential as the subject matter. I've never traveled to South America, and really look forward to the immersion in a completely new culture. I truly don't know what to expect, but I've heard that Latin America is an incredibly friendly place, with lots of opportunity to learn and explore. My other foreign experiences, within Mexico and Greece, haven't given me any reason to think that this will change in Sao Paulo.

Without a doubt, spending a month in a new culture, with a (moderate, maybe significant) language barrier will be difficult. I've taken five years of Spanish in high school, so I expect this will allow me to decipher some meanings and signs. However, although Portuguese is similar to Spanish, it's still a new language of which I have no experience. I'm expecting a tough learning curve over the first week or so, but with practice and class lessons, I'm hoping to pick up the basics fairly quickly. This entire immersion experience will be something completely new to me and a challenge I'm excited to tackle. I plan to do this by interacting with locals, attempting to communicate effectively whenever possible, and ultimately trying new things. In addition to museum visits, group trips, and exploring the city, I'm hoping to gain a strong understanding of Brazilian culture and the city of Sao Paulo.