Sustainable Energy Dialogue in Brazil 2017

Today was an eventful day! We went to visit Centro de Technologia Cannavieira (CTC) where we  met Jaime Finguerut and learned about traditional and new technologies to increase sugar and ethanol production from the Sugarcane plant. We then had lunch in the town of Piracicaba on the bank of the river. After we visited Usina Granelli, an ethanol and sugar production plant. It was very interesting to see sugarcane ethanol being produced right in front of our eyes!

Today we visited the Green Building Council in Sao Paulo. We got to tour a LEED platinum rated office high rise in downtown Sao Paulo. We got to see many features and benefits of this sustainable building, which have become very popular in Sao Paulo. These buildings are energy efficient, they recycle water and use rain water, and they are designed specifically to use the sun to light and give energy to the building.

This weekend we started off doing presentations on research projects we did collaborating with Brazilian students from Mackenzie University on different renewable energy topics.  The presentations were a great way to learn about sustainable energy topics with students from Brazil to give their own perspective on these topics. Saturday and Sunday afternoon we worked with the NGO, Sociedade do Sol. We learned how to build solar water heaters and met people from a city next to Sao Paulo who will benefit from this technology. Speaking with people from the community was very interesting and we were happy to help build solar water heaters with them.

Today we visited the University of Sao Paulo, which is one of the largest public universities in Sao Paulo. We talked with the director of the Institute of Energy and Environment. He discussed some of the ground breaking research being done at their facility. We then got to tour some of their research labs and solar panel test fields.  Some very interesting energy research being done in Sao Paulo!

Today we visited the Museu do Futebol and learned about how important futebol (soccer) is here in Brazil.  We then to Ibirapuera park, which is a large park in Sao Paulo (similar to Central Park in NYC). We played soccer and volleyball and got to see some of the nature that the park had to offer.

Today we met with the Municipal Secretary of Energy and Mining for the state of Sao Paulo, Joao Carlos Mierelles. He spoke about the state of renewable energies in Brazil and Sao Paulo. He discussed some of the improvements Sao Paulo and Brazil have made to their policies to increase renewable technologies and some of the challenges they still face. It was a very interesting and educational conversation.

We had a visit from the representatives from Soliedade do Sol, the NGO we will be working on a service project with this weekend.  They discussed how they began the project of building solar water heaters on needy peoples homes as well as how they work.  We look forward to building these heaters this weekend.

Today we visited with Cantinho do Ceu about a government run project to clean up water ways and add parks in lower income areas in Sao Paulo.

Our first weekend in Brazil was very eventful and fun! Saturday we went to an outdoor market called Praca Benedito Calixto where we got to try some traditional Brazilian street food. We then walked through Villa Madelena and saw some amazing street art at Beco do Batman.  On Sunday we toured Avenida Paulista and saw a popular area of the city of Sao Paulo. Then in the afternoon we had a churrasco (BBQ) at Campus Casa where we got to try some traditional Brazilian meats.

Today we went to Mackenzie Presbyterian University here in Sao Paulo. We learned and discussed about renewable energies in the US and Brazil. We started to work in groups on a week long project collaborating with Brazilian Engineering students. We will present our projects next Saturday.

This morning learned about energy sources and heat engines in our Sustainable Energy course, then in the afternoon we visited Biogas Ambiental. This company harnesses Biogas produced by a landfill and produces electricity that serves over 400,000 residents of Sao Paulo! A very successful first company visit!