Milton Flávio Marques Lautenschlager

The Sub-secretary of Energy for Sao Paulo has a very impressive name. We met with him last Tuesday and discussed the Paulista Energy Plan (PEP). The main goal of the PEP is to increase renewable energy usage in Sao Paulo from 55% to 69% by 2020. Since the hydroelectric power of Sao Paulo is already maxed out, the main focus will be on wind power, solar power, and biodiesel/ethanol production.

Wind power in Sao Paulo is currently nonexistent; there are no wind farms in the whole state of Sao Paulo. And compared to Germany, one of the leading countries for solar power,  Brazil has more potential for harnessing solar power. As for ethanol use, if the PEP goes according to plant then all cars in Sao Paulo state will be able to use flex fuels (ethanol and gasoline mixture) by 2020. While these goals may seem difficult to achieve, I believe that with the right methods and technologies Sao Paulo state will reach the goals set by the PEP.

Something I found interesting was Lautenschlager's apprehensiveness towards hydraulic fracturing (fracking). He believes that risking contamination of water reserves and sources of water for the public is not a smart idea. He also mentioned that the actions of the USA with regards to fracking serve as a warning for Brazil.

Look! We made it to their website! We're famous!
http://www.energia.sp.gov.br/lenoticia.php?id=530

Sao Joao

Early Thursday morning we visited the Sao Joao landfill. It was a dreary day, with a constant drizzle of rain and temperatures at more or less 40 degrees Fahrenheit. We did we visit a landfill? Well, when the garbage in a landfill decomposes, the gas released contains methane. After collection and a cleaning process, about 50% of the total gas is recovered methane that can be processed and sent to the Sao Paulo grid. While the starting product (garbage) is readily available and always will be, not much power is generated from the methane gas.

Landfills in Brazil are more common than landfills in the USA as the composition of total waste is different. Brazil generally has more organic waste that is biodegradable and releases a fair amount of methane. On the other hand, waste in the USA is composed of more plastics and manmade materials that do not release as much methane.

Control panel for the entire landfill

"We've worked for 644 days without an accident. Our record is 365 days."
Wait, what?

Where methane gas is burned if something goes wrong and it can't be captured.

Trash Mountain. It was smelly.

O Museo e o Mercado

Last Friday we took a trip to the Museo Afro. The exhibits in this museum deal with the history of African Americans in Brazil

The photography exhibits interest me the most. One photographer, Hans Silvester, traveled down to the Ono River in Africa to photograph inhabitants of the area. Although cameras were prohibited in the museum, I snuck a couple pictures of my favorites.

Yesterday we visited a popular market. It was huge! There were so many stalls, selling fruits, nuts, fish, meats, and cheeses.

The fruits were so interesting and new to me! Here are some of the more exotic ones:

This red, spiky fruit is called a rambutan. To eat it, you cut it open and eat the insides. The inside is a white, gel-like sphere, and tastes sweet. It's delicious!

This is a Pitaia Columbiana, or Columbian Dragonfruit. It has a super sweet taste, and a very soft, almost mushy texture. I wasn't a huge fan - it's a bit too sweet for me!

This is a caju (cashew) fruit. The cashews that we're used to eating are actually the seed of the fruit (the brown bit on top), and are poisonous if eaten raw. The fruit part is mainly used to make juice, and it's pretty good!

This weird fruit is a graviola, or soursop. I didn't get to try this one, unfortunately, but it sure does look strange.

Figs aren't uncommon in the US, but I hadn't seem them this large or raw before!

The jabuticaba fruit grows on a tree, and is kind of like a grape. The insides are white and very juicy, and really delicious!

I didn't get to try a tamarillo either, but apparently it's similar to a tomato, just sweeter?

Maracujá Columbiana, or Columbian passionfruit. I bought one of these, and plan to make a caipirinha with it later tonight!

Golden plum! I didn't try one of these, but I did try a red plum and it was so flavorful and juicy.

Starfruit! The portuguese name for these is "carambola." They're citrus-y, and are sometimes used as garnish for drinks here.

There were lots of spice vendors too - so many spices!

Oh hey there Kelly

CPFL, Bosch, EnerSolar, & Henry Borden

On Tuesday morning we took a bus to CPFL Energia, a solar power plant in  Campinas.  This facility runs experiments on different technologies for solar panels, such as testing stationary vs. mobile (solar tracking) solar panels. I was surprised to find out that the CPFL facility & office buildings (a ways down the road from the solar panel farm) isn't powered by their solar panels. Seems contradictory to me.

Angled to resemble a roof

Do the solar panel!

Anemometer - when wind velocities surpass a certain speed, this meter will
tilt the solar panels to the neutral position as to avoid disasters

Control panel for a section of the solar panels

Some work has been done (not by CPFL) on putting solar panels on the backside of stationary systems. This would collect energy from the sun's rays that don't hit the front of the panel and instead are reflected off of the ground. Looking at the picture below, it seems as though that may be a smart idea - it may significantly increase the amount of energy collected while also preserving land.

The mobile solar panels (seen above) are run on an automated system. A timer switches them on at 5:30AM every day. Every 5 minutes the panels rotate to the ideal angle for catching the optimal amount of rays. Then they're switched off after sunset and return to the neutral starting position. All in all, this facility has some very impressive technologies! 

Tuesday afternoon we visited Bosch, a company that develops technologies for Flex Fuel engines. Flex fuel, a mixture of ethanol and gasoline, can be anywhere between 5% ethanol (E5) and 100% ethanol (E100). Ethanol is less efficient than gasoline, but better for the environment. Growing the sugar cane used to make ethanol lowers the net carbon dioxide emissions for using ethanol as fuel.

            Not many people know about flex fuel in the USA. Since ethanol is produced form corn and not sugar cane,  the process is much longer and more expensive. However, most gas stations in the US pump gas that has some percentage of ethanol mixed in. While it is usually a maximum of 10% ethanol, cars with flex engines can handle up to E85. Here in Brazil E100 is a viable fuel option, but due to the different climate and lower temperatures the USA can only use a maximum of E85 in cars with flex engines.

Wednesday we attended the second annual EnerSolar Brazil conference on solar energy technologies. 

Team Dino-Scavenge!  

There were some really innovative and interesting technologies there. One of them, a solar thermal water heater, was partially disassembled for us. It uses heat from the sun to heat a copper rod located inside each tube. The copper rod will then either transfer heat to water inside the tube or will transfer heat to water held in the top section.

Looks like this when installed on a roof

We're standing on a solar panel!

Thursday was spent at Henry Bordon, a hydroelectric plant built in 1926. At time of inauguration the plant contained eight generators, driven by turbines with a natural water supply of the Tietê River. In 1956, an additional six generators were installed in the Serra do Mar caves. Hydroelectricity is a large producer of renewable energy in both Brazil and the USA.

Model of the turbines used

One of the generators

Into the caves!

Vida no Brasil: Uma Semana Passada

As we've been exploring the area around the hostel, we've found some really neat places. One of my favorite places is a cafe called Kopenhagen. It's a small place with delicious coffees and chocolates - how could you go wrong?

Kelly with her delicious Martin Macadamia (cold chocolate drink) 

Cinnamon espresso con leite - so tasty!

We also tried a place called Acai Beat. The acai bowl is their speciality; it's a cold sorbet-type acai substance, and you add whatever toppings you want, such as granola, condensed milk, bananas, chocolate, etc. It's delicious!

It's like a party for your taste buds

We also discovered a second-hand store with some very unique clothes. Hayley bought this classic shirt.

Even in Brazil

Also, the boxed food at the grocery store has braille on it!

There are also ridges along the sidewalks for blind people. Sao Paulo is a very accommodating city!

Last Tuesday we visited Pinacoteca, a Brazilian art museum. On the way there, we stopped to look at the Luz train station. It was built in the late 19th century and was the main entrance to the city. In the 1940s it caught fire and part of it was rebuilt, creating a distinct line between the two styles of architecture.

The renovated section to the right...

And to the left, the original station.

Also, there was a pianist in the station! With an actual piano, not a keyboard!

We then headed to the museum:

The Pinacoteca had a lot of amazing pieces of art. Unfortunately my phone was low on battery and I couldn't take many pictures, but these were some of my favorites:

This is titled "não sabíamos" which translates to "We didn't know." It shows how the media publishes stories on corruption, crimes, and general illegality, yet when everything escalates and eventually blows up, people claim "we didn't know."

This sculpture was just so bizarre

Friday was very exciting; we took a samba class! The instructor didn't speak English, but you don't really need it when learning how to dance - it's mostly monkey see, monkey do. Samba is a lot of work! Definitely a good time. We had some time to kill after samba, so we visited a park nearby. There are monkeys there, but unfortunately I didn't see any. There were a ton of chickens though! 

Bamboo is really awesome

Hayley and Joe being adorable

Oh hey Kelly!

Chickens everywhere!!!

Brazil is very recycle-friendly

After the park we took a tour of a Latin America museum. There were different sections with historical artifacts from different countries in Latin America.

From Peru

Hand-woven baskets so masterfully crafted they are completely watertight.
It takes about two years to make one basket.

Dia de los Muertos display 

These ribbons represent the solidarity of Latin American countries

After the museum we headed to dinner at a super swanky restaurant called Angelica's Grill. However, before that, we had the chance to see the sunset over the skyline.

 

Dinner was at a buffet with delicious food. It boasted having 22 different types of meat, which as a non-meat eater was less than exciting for me, but there were many other options. Lots of shrimp, some tilapia, and so many veggies! Also, sushi!

And a make-your-own pasta bar!

They came around to the table to serve the meat - really good service!

Hayley got creme brulee and they came out with the blowtorch!

 

Yesterday was a relaxing day. Seven of us went to Parque Ibirapuera, an expansive park near the hostel. We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed good company and an awesome fountain show!

Once we realized there were fish in the water, we started throwing bread crumbs. They went crazy! 

Sunset over Sao Paulo

 That night we went out to a bar crawl. One of the bars was a salsa/samba bar, and we got to try out our new dance moves we learned on Friday! It was a really good time.

From the brochure for the bar crawl

(more pictures to come!)