Meeting with Sub Secretary and Visit to Landfill

Our class was privileged with the opportunity to attend a lecture and questionnaire with the State of Sao Paulo's Sub Secretary of Renewable Energies, Dr. Milton Flavio. Their news writeup can be found here. 

Most of Sao Paulo state's energy comes from hydroelectric plants, not fossil fuels. While there is still a large market here for fossil fuel energy, most of it goes towards transportation, not general electricity production. Natural gas is also a large part of the state's energy economy, however they do not utilize the process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) like we do in the US. Flavio made a point of saying how we are destroying our countries reservoirs, aquifers and environment in general. I asked him, then how do you gain your natural gas? We import it from Bolivia. Ah, political rhetoric at its best, not sure what else I expected. Maybe I'm being a little harsh because Dr. Flavio was enormously generous and thorough in his speech and answers to our penetrating questions. He was also impressed to hear that we had attended the CPFL solar farm, Henry Borden Hydroelectric plant and Bosch Flex Fuel facility and that we planned to attend the Angra Nuclear Plant; sadly due to an energy sector protest scheduled on our tour day, we will no longer be visiting Angra. 

I'll share with you an anecdote Dr. Flavio told us, Sao Paulo is the engine that drives the train of Brazil. Sao Paulo state is responsible for one third of Brazil's GDP, it is also the largest city in South America and has the unique privilege to lead the continent in an alternative energy revolution.

On one of the coldest, wettest days Sao Paulo has seen in a while, we decided to visit the Biogas Landfill and Natural Gas Plant. Everyday the city generates around 25 tons of trash and disperses it among a handfull of different landfills and recycling centers. We visited one of them that captures the natural gas releases by decomposing organic matter and uses that gas to power a generator and turbine.

This is a view from the top of the landfill, it was over 150 meters high and it gets compacted about half of one meter every year. At the bottom layer there is a 5 mm high density plastic sheeting that prevents any sort of contamination into the groundwater. There are large diameter porous pipes, under low pressure, that suck up any natural gas and route it to a central processing plant. Below is where all the pipes meet:

From there the moisture is condensed out of the feed and collected while the gas is sent to a series of engines, all of which contribute to the generation of electricity for the surrounding area. One of the major problems with this system is that it has a high initial investment and it takes decades to pay off. The site we visited was still in the red after building its system over 15 years ago. This is a large deterrent to many other landfills in the area that currently either actively burn the gas into the atmosphere or passively release it, both of which contribute to the growing levels of greenhouse gases. Also it's smelly. Very very smelly.

Food Market

We visited one of the oldest and biggest Fruit/Food markets in Sao Paulo, here's a list and description of a few of the things you can find there:

Rambutan - I couldn't find the name of this in English but it was surprisingly delicious. Inside the edible part of the fruit is a nut, kinda jelly like but pleasant.

Figo Roxo - Purple Fig, didn't try it but it probably isn't much different from regular figs?

Tomarillo - Dutch eggplant, didn't get a chance to try this either.

Mangostin - Purple Mangosteen, the inside of this one was white and slimy, eh.

Cavalinha Seca - Dried Mackerel, I didn't try this but from the smell I don't think I want to.

Cocoola - Coconut Cake, these were cakes of sweetened coconut shavings, unlike the super small shavings you're used to, these were big chunks and really sweet.

Surpresa De Morango - Strawberry Surprise, inside the chocolate layer of this sweet was a thick layer of dulce de leche and a strawberry in the middle! Surprise!

There was a considerable beer store offering many crafts that I'd seen and not seen before, but this one was totally out of left field. Rogue offers other beers in the states but I've never seen this, nor did I really want to try it.

Carne Seca Coxao Mole - Dried Beef Jerky, unfortunately this wasn't available to taste either but I did get to try a few different sausages and bacons, some spicy some sweet. 

Pitaya Exotica - Dragon Fruit, the inside of this was also white with small black seeds, these look pretty different from normal dragon fruit but maybe they're just under ripe.

Maybe we'll get a chance to go back and try some more things, there definitely was much more I'd like to get my hands on!

Power Plant Site Visits & Conference

This week we visited the Tanquinho Solar Power Plant near the city of Campinas, a little info about the site can be found here. Tanquinho is an experimental power plant employing two types of solar panels and two types of mounting systems, along with a series of windmills yet to be constructed. The two types of panels used there are amorphous crystalline silicon and poly crystalline silicon, the latter being the more efficient and expensive.

Both types of panels are employed in two ways: stationary mounted and tracking. The poly crystalline tracking method is obviously the most efficient way to harness the power of the sun due to the fact that the panel is constantly in direct sunlight, not oblique light as in the stationary panels. 

Above you can see the sole motor that controls the tracking panel. Every five minutes the panels are tuned by a few degrees to line them up with the suns rays. At night and in high winds the panels go to their rest state, level to the ground, to save energy and reduce strain. Brazil is closer to the equator than the US so it receives more direct sunlight each year, making it a much better candidate for solar generation. However, much of Brazil is rainforest which contributes to a high moisture content in the air, creating clouds. The South West US is actually ideal for solar since it has very low moisture content, thus less clouds. Right now all of these panels at the Tanquinho site were constructed in China, where silicon is abundant and the solar panel manufacturing industry is booming. If you are looking to start a solar panel manufactury Brazil is a great place to do so. One criticism for our current energy production in the US is that we depend on foreign resources, the same would be true if we adopted solar since almost all production is done in China. 

Exciting Stuff!

Later that day we visited the Bosch Flex Fuel plant, located in Campinas as well. Bosch is a fairly well known company which has its hands in everything from industrial systems manufacturing, jet engines and refrigerators. Sadly, they didn't allow any photography inside the plant so this will have to suffice:

You can find more information about their systems here. The idea around flex fuels in that gasoline doesn't have to be the only thing you run your car on. Actually, the first motorcar, the Ford Model T, was designed to run on ethanol instead of gasoline. But due to some slight differences between the two fuels, and the prohibition of ethanol in the US, almost all cars after this point ran solely on gasoline.

Ethanol may be cleaner burning than gasoline but it also has less 'umph', or energy per unit volume. So back in the day, when you wanted to fill your tank up with ethanol instead of gasoline, you would have to manually tune your carburetor to inject more or less fuel and oxygen depending on your mixture. One of the Bosch innovations was a series of sensors and programs which can detect your fuel mixture and tweak your engine automatically, called Lambda correction. Another problem with ethanol is that it doesn't burn very well in the cold. Flex fuel vehicles of the past would have two tanks, a large tank for ethanol and a smaller, sub tank for gasoline which was used to start the car and get it warm. Bosch as also fixed this problem by designing a special fuel injector that can heat pure ethanol to a functional temperature in around 8-10 seconds. 

Ethanol may be the future of our internal combustion vehicles due to the fact that it is CO2 neutral, meaning that the only CO2 it produces is the same CO2 absorbed by the plants which produced it, therefore not contributing to greenhouse gas levels. 

The next day we went to an alternative energy conference in Sao Paolo. There was a multitude of companies represented there, however the vast majority were focused on solar; manufacturing, mounting and systems management. Biomass and wind were also represented and we got a chance to talk to employees and pick up info sheets, not to mention general conference swag. 

Here's my group members getting excited about the products! I'm not sure why solar was represented much more than any of the other technologies but it might be because Brazil is such a good candidate for it, however wind and biomass are also very good options here. It was tough trying to get info from the representatives since maybe 1 in 10 spoke English, but generally there was more than one company that did the same thing so it wasn't too hard to get the jist. 

Today we visited the Henry Borden Hydroelectric Power Plant, just over the mountains in Cubatao. It was a little hectic getting there since we had to go over the mountains alongside many tractor trailers squeezed onto very thin roads. The views were amazing though:

The plant draws its power from a multitude of rivers high up in the mountains and controls their drop through a series of large diameter pipes which ultimately spin a series of large turbines. Using a property called electromagnetic induction, electricity is generated and sent to the people of Sao Paolo.

Those mountains way up in the distance? Yeah, that's where the water starts. Eventually it reaches one of two main power houses and is sent through these specially designed nozzles, constructed in 1926 and still in use today.

The water streams are concentrated so much that each jet delivers about 70 tons of force. That force is applied directly to these wheels, also specially designed for this system. 

These wheels are connected by an axle to a series of magnetic fields, housing and transformers which ultimately turn the raw water power to electrical power. Each power house holds about eight of these modules.

In 1932 a group of revolutionaries attempted to bomb the hydroelectric plant in order to cut power to all of Sao Paolo. Although they were unsuccessful, the company decided to build its second power house inside the mountain. The project wasn't completed until the 1950's, long after revolutionaries were a problem, but the energy deficiency of the time and labor incentives made the project happen anyway and it is still in use today.

The US already employs a significant amount of hydroelectric power at sites like the Hoover Dam and Niagara Falls. Seeing these renewable energy sources utilized in Brazil makes me hopeful that the US can cut its dependence on foreign oil and create a green energy industry. Maybe with the knowledge I've learned at these sites and the falling costs of new technologies I can help our country reach that goal, providing cleaner and more secure energy for the future.

Hydraulic Fracturing: a Not so New Evil

Friends and Family in New York State and across the country, if hydraulic fracturing for natural gas is proposed in your area, you must educate yourself. This documentary came out in 2010 and, frankly, it should scare the pants off of you.

The above graphic crudely describes how the fracking process works. In simple terms, a slurry of water, sand and some of the worst chemicals you can imagine are pumped into the ground to creates fissures in the rock below, thus releasing natural gas to be collected from the same pipe. The problem with this approach is that no matter what the chemicals used in this process are seeping into local environments and groundwater while the heads of Halliburton, and countless other energy firms, are committed to this lie: there is no possible contamination. They also believe that the numerous testimonies, scientific studies and reports which confirm this contamination are blatant lies, without offering any rebuttal except, "it's safe".

If these productions are let loose across the northeast, say goodbye to drinking from your faucet because it will literally be flammable. I'm not joking, watch the movie. So you might say, who is letting this happen? How can these companies let this go on, knowingly contaminating countless water supplies and injuring/killing countless residents? The only explanation I can muster is that they value the almighty dollar more that American lives.

I must ask three questions about this problem directed at you, the press, the government and the ring leaders:

1. Is reducing our dependence on foreign fuel sources, by capturing homegrown natural gas via fracking, more important than endangering the lives of millions of Americans, let alone total ecosystems?

2. Why are we obsessed with continuing the usage of fossil fuels, in this case natural gas, knowing that they are doomed to fail? Why isn't that money going into the research and scale-up of known renewable energy sources, thus creating an even bigger green economy?

3. What can we, the people of the United States of America, do to stop this blatant destruction of our great nation when politicians see, hear and speak no evil?

I'll leave you here with the man who helped all of this happen. He used to be the CEO of Halliburton and I'm sure he's still on their payroll. He was the Vice President of the Bush administration for both terms. He backed and passed a bill which excluded the entire natural gas industry from answering to dozens of environmental protection acts known as the Halliburton Loophole. Former Vice President and current face of evil, Dick Cheney.

           It is generally accepted that the solution to the current energy crisis will not be one great idea but an amalgam of ideas already in place. Existing technologies, such as nuclear, solar, wind, geothermal and hydroelectric energy, must be re-vamped for a wider usage. Traditional nuclear plants were made on site and each one was different from any other, however each plant essentially did the same thing. Westinghouse, an energy organization, has realized that this system is not sustainable on a large scale. In order to create a large amount of nuclear plants for cheap Westinghouse is making them modular; all parts of these plants are created in large chunks and shipped, reducing the construction time of a plant by about half. After the Fukushima incident, which was caused by emergency coolant not being mobilized due to a power failure of the pumps, designers realized that public opinion would not support these new modular plants unless this crucial detail was resolved. Their solution was to count on a power source that will always deliver: gravity. By putting the emergency reservoir directly on top of the reactor it is assured that in the event of a meltdown, coolant can be directly introduced without a need of electricity.

            The wedge metaphor, pictured above, accurately describes how our energy goals for the next half century are easily tackled if we can break it into smaller parts. I agree with this method because, as an engineer, I commonly breakdown a problem into its pieces in order to understand and diagnose the situation in more depth. Another nuance of this approach is gradation; we cannot just simply decide to close all fossil fuel plants and open all renewable plants. There must be an easing of policy and implementation if we are to change energy sources seamlessly and gracefully.

            A relatively new method of reducing CO2 emissions from fossil fuel power plants is to physically bury the exhaust into a porous layer of rock a mile below the surface. This is a good solution, in theory, but I personally don’t believe it to be sustainable over the long term. Functionally you are creating a large pressure under the surface of whatever landmass you choose and eventually that pressure will be released. Currently there are only four large scale plants doing this today so there is obviously room for improvements.

            One large criticism of investing into alternative energy sources is that there currently is no market incentive to do so. Oil production has been around so long that the industry practices are well refined (pun intended) and when you compare it to the high costs of production and research of alternative energies, there is no competition. In a capitalist market money talks, and currently it’s not speaking for these new sources.

            I do not believe that people will embrace newer, more expensive technologies until it becomes essential to their livelihood. Like the frog in a pot, he won’t jump out if the temperature slowly rises; he will only jump out if he feels a sudden danger. Sadly I believe that the world will need to experience some tragedy or major event to completely endorse alternative energies. I hope that a market for alternative and renewable energies emerges soon to spark development and personally, I would like to be part of that emergence.

Reflections on Proposed Policies

      One proposal for decreasing the energy requirements of Brazilian residences is the adoption of minimum efficiency standards on common household appliances, including light bulbs. Depending on the final standards decided by the federal government energy savings of nearly 20-30% are possible for new refrigerators, air conditioners and lighting products. An argument in favor of making these standards more feasible is that if more efficient products become the industry norm an economy of scale will occur, greatly reducing the incremental cost of each product.

      Another policy change that is directed towards Brazilian citizens is the adoption of minimum fuel economy or CO2 emission standards for passenger vehicles. As of now there are no efficiency standards for light trucks in Brazil, a type of vehicle used continuously by small businesses and the self-employed. Employing CO2 reduction standards is specifically beneficial in Brazil due to the availability of ethanol as a fuel source; the combustion of ethanol produces significantly less CO2 than combustion of traditional and diesel gasoline.

      In conjunction with the previous policy, expansion of production and usage of ethanol fuel in commercial and industrial vehicles, along with passenger vehicles, is an obvious advantage for Brazil. Currently a fleet of ethanol based vehicles built in the 1980’s is slowing being phased out, this requires policy to create supply and demand for new, cleaner, more efficient ethanol based vehicles. One way to accomplish this need is to make available low-interest loans for ethanol plants and distilleries along with acquiring a 5-10 billion liter ethanol reserve for release by the federal government to tweak market demands.

      Currently there are no federal restrictions on carbon emissions from domestic power plants which produce roughly one third of all greenhouse gas emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency has constructed a proposal that sets carbon emission restrictions on all new power plants built in the United States, one further step would be to grant federal subsidies for refurbishments of existing power plants in order to reduce those emissions even further.

      Reducing emissions nationwide is not enough to combat the growing threat, renewable and clean energy production must also be accelerated. The federal government is currently making it easier for green energy companies to acquire larger and more numerous permits. Existing dams across the country are also being encouraged to install hydroelectric generators for obvious reasons. The Department of Defense, the single largest energy consumer in the United States, has committed to deploying renewable energy generators at many large military bases, including solar, wind, biomass and geothermal sources.

      Just as Brazil and many other countries worldwide are setting industry efficiency and fuel economy standards, the United States hopes to take a leadership role using similar policies. Heavy duty vehicles, used mainly by industry, are the second largest source of greenhouse gases domestically. New mpg and CO2 standards are now set in place for all models of heavy-duty trucks, buses and vans produced in 2014 to 2018. Ambitious fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles have already been set by the Obama administration; these standards would require all passenger vehicles produced after 2025 to maintain an average performance equivalent of 54.5 mpg.

An Inconvient Truth

1.    What image started the modern day environmental movement?

When the first Apollo mission to the moon took a photo from space, that photo contained the biosphere: all humanity and any advancements, arts and sciences ever done.

“When you're finally up at the moon looking back on earth, all those differences and nationalistic traits are pretty well going to blend, and you're going to get a concept that maybe this really is one world and why the hell can't we learn to live together like decent people.”

      — Frank Borman, Apollo 8

2.    What is considered the most vulnerable part of the earth system?

The atmosphere is the most vulnerable part of the Earth. The air you breathe is the same air that has been breathed by all of the life forms on Earth since its creation. The biosphere is a closed system so if you pollute today’s atmosphere and environment that same pollution will be recycled from now until it becomes unbearable.

3.    Relatively speaking, compared to the earth, how thick is the atmosphere?

You can imagine the atmosphere of the Earth as the layer of varnish on the surface of a globe. From the ground you may look up and think that goes on for miles up, how can it we ever affect it so much? One person may not make a huge difference but when 8 billion people are all polluting in some way or another it adds up and quickly.

4.    How can trapping infrared radiation by the earth’s atmosphere be a GOOD thing?

If infrared radiation was not trapped by the Earth’s atmosphere it would become too cold to be inhabited. Our sister planet, Mars, is a perfect example of how too little atmosphere can cool down a planet so much that liquid water cannot exist, therefore limiting all possibility of life.

5.    How can trapping infrared radiation by the earth’s atmosphere be a BAD thing?

Just like leaving your car windows closed on a sunny day, all that heat has nowhere to escape so the temperature climbs and climbs. Our other sister planet, Venus, is the quintessential example of a greenhouse gone too far. Since the temperatures are too hot for liquid water to exist again we see that life cannot exist.

6.     What percentage of people depend on glacial melt for their drinking water?

40% of the Earth’s population depends on glacial melt for drinking water and that doesn’t even include those who rely on it for irrigation of agriculture. The Great Lakes which lie north of the mainland US were formed from glacial melt and today sustain millions of people.

7.    Why is studying ice cores important?

Just as carbon dating of rocks buried deep in the ground can give us a window into the chemical past, ice cores serve the same purpose. More specifically they give us an indication of the dissolved CO2 in the atmosphere at that time.

8.    What is the relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) and atmospheric temperature?

There is a direct relationship between the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and its temperature. Heat capacity is a measurement that generally describes how much energy in the form of heat a substance can hold; CO2 has a significantly larger capacity to hold heat that regular, nitrogen based air.

9.    Over what time period have the hottest 10 years on earth occurred?

Between 1992 and 2006 the ten hottest years for the whole globe have been recorded, along with with highest CO2 levels.

10. As the water temperature under a hurricane increases, what happens to the wind velocity of the storm?

As the water temperature increases, the wind velocity of a hurricane increases as well. Temperature is roughly a measurement of the amount of kinetic energy a substance holds at a molecular level; it should be obvious that if you add more energy to a system it will become more  violent and powerful.

11. What has happened to Lake Chad over the years?

Lake Chad was once one of the largest lakes on the Earth located in Africa. Over the past decade or so it has been reduced to a mere fraction of its once intimidating size. Countless people and communities have been displaced due to this dramatic change.

12. How much of the suns radiation gets reflected by ice?

Around 90% of the solar radiation that hits frozen water is reflected. The liquid and vapor forms of water only reflect a small fraction of that radiation and what is absorbed contributes to the total global warming.

13. What redistributes energy from the equator to the north and south poles?

Natural air and water currents are the mediums for heat transfer throughout the globe, such as the well known Gulf Stream. These currents are deceptively fragile and over time have changed as the Earth’s temperature has changed.

14. If the ice sheets of Western Antarctica were to melt, approximately how much would sea level rise?

The ice sheets of Western Antarctica are so large that if they were to melt the global sea level would rise around 20 feet, displacing millions if not billions of coastal peoples.

15. List the three factors causing the collision between civilization and earth

1. Population – as more people come into existence each one affects the environment more and more.

2. Scientific/Technological Advances – as our technologies become more powerful they leave a bigger and longer lasting footprint on our globe.

3. Modes of thinking – if the same ways of thinking are used on new technologies it should not be surprising that problems will new problems will arise that do not yet have solutions.

16. Approximately, what percentages of global carbon dioxide emissions come from forest fires?

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The two nations which have not signed the Kyoto Protocol are the United States and Australia. This is a large problem because the US is the major contributor to many of our global issues. One cannot fathom a rationalization to outright disagree with a protocol whose intention is to save our planet. Whoever has decided that the US would rather not participate has obviously disregarded popular opinion.

17.What country is the largest contributor of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere?

It should come as no surprise that the United States if the largest contributor of greenhouse gases.

18.Which country has the lowest government standards for gas mileage of automobiles?

Again, it should be no surprise that the United States has the lowest standards for gas mileage.

19.Which two nations have not signed onto the Kyoto Protocol?

The two nations which have not signed the Kyoto Protocol are the United States and Australia. This is a large problem because the US is the major contributor to many of our global issues. One cannot fathom a rationalization to outright disagree with a protocol whose intention is to save our planet. Whoever has decided that the US would rather not participate has obviously disregarded popular opinion.

Carbon Footprint Quiz

My calculated carbon footprint:

          The average greenhouse gas emissions for a US citizen is 27 tons of CO2/yr while the world average is only 5.5... well at least I've found a happy medium. The largest piece of my breakdown pie seems to be home energy and that's understandable when you share a triplex style home with 4 other roommates. Lights get left on, people leave the fridge open and our shared washing machine is going nonstop. However I did make the effort and investment to install florescent bulbs in most of our lamps, only because we don't have A/C and incandescent bulbs give off much more heat than fluorescent and LED. Saving the environment is cool, too, I guess. 

          The biggest difference between myself and the average US citizen is that I don't drive a car. In the words of Bob Marley, "my feet are my only carriage." However, I'm also a gigantic advocate and user of the public transportation in Boston. Riding the T ten stops and taking a bus five miles twice everyday definitely leaves its mark on the environment, yet not so much as if I drove myself to and from work everyday instead.

          Meat is, unfortunately, one of the staples of my diet, like most Americans. We love our beef so much but rarely think about where it comes from. Those giant open-range ranches in the midwest are packed with cows and cows... fart. Like they fart a lot. You would too if you had four stomachs. Anyway what I'm saying is that when all those cows are farting away they are releasing enormous amounts of methane gas, a strong greenhouse gas. It'd be great if we could harness this methane because it is a great energy source, you may know it as natural gas, for obvious reasons. 

         But just like muscle cars and bad television, Americans love their beef and it's not going away anytime soon. 

Meet & Greet

         Hi everyone, my name is Joe DePeter and this blog will be my 'journal' of my experiences in São Paolo, Brazil. I'm a middler at Northeastern University studying chemical engineering and I hope that throughout this trip I will attempt to understand the motivations and mechanics behind Brazil's renewable/alternative energy production.

        So far our catch phrase here has been, 'that's different'. Life here IS different and I first noticed that when the lady who took my order for coffee was puzzled by the term 'to-go'.

        Starbucks is the only place here where you will find to-go cups; every other coffee shop assumes that if you order something you'll take the time to enjoy it there, not to cheapen your experience by muddling it with your commute.

       Here's to hoping that life doesn't get too different, however I never would have left home if I didn't want to leave my comfort zone.