Secretary of Energy and Mining of the State of Sao Paulo

Today we had the great honor of meeting João Carlos Meirelles, the Secretary of Energy and Mining of the state of São Paulo. We also met Antonio Celso de Abreu Junior, the Subsecretary of Renewable Energies, and technicians of the department, Marília Fanucchi and Plínio Pires. They gladly welcomed us and gave a presentation about renewable energy in Sao Paulo and everything related to it. Meirelles opened up the presentation and told us the main strategy and objectives for the state of Sao Paulo in terms of renewable energy. The state of Sao Paulo has set a goal to operate with 100% energy from renewable sources in 25 years; a very impressive and inspiring goal. It certainly won’t be easy to accomplish, especially considering the fact that the department is overseen by the federal government and has to follow federal laws and regulations, which limits their actions.

After he finished, the sub secretary proceeded with the presentation. We learned about the current state of Sao Paulo in terms of renewable energy and how its sources for energy had changed in the last year. It was very interesting to see that solar energy grew the most, with a 12% increase. This makes sense since solar is the energy with most potential. Surprisingly, ethanol energy decreased, especially since Sao Paulo is the state with the most production of ethanol. This could be because they are starting to focus and invest on other energy sources such as solar, hydro and wind. They said that although currently there aren’t any wind turbines installed in the state, they are planning on starting it and that it has a lot of potential. In 2010, the matrix of energy for Sao Paulo 36.1% fossil oils, 33.5% biomass, 17.9% hydro, 6.6% natural gas, 2.2% coal and byproducts, 1.4% wood and charcoal and 2.3% other renewables. By 2020, they expect the matrix to be 46% biomass, 19.8% oil, 18.1% hydro, 8.1% natural gas, 3.2% coal and byproducts, 1.5% wood and charcoal and 3.3% other renewables. They are focusing on increasing their renewable energy and expect it to grow from 55.1% to 69%.

Moving into renewable energy is not an easy task. Therefore, the state of Sao Paulo needs to create incentives to motivate their people and that will ensure the participation and contribution of the whole state. For example, the state gives incentives for ethanol plants. They are also working on decreasing the costs, including taxes, for the production of ethanol. They take similar actions for other sources and they implement strategies like Microgeneration and Minigeneration. They also mentioned all the potential for renewable energy that the state still has. For example, there is a potential of 13 million MWh per year for wind and 12 million MWh per year for solar.

They continued to answer some of our questions and we thanked them for everything. The presentation made me realize how advanced and strong Sao Paulo is as a state in comparison with the rest of the states and even compared to other countries. Renewable energies are not the most efficient, practical or profitable sources for energy but they are clearly the most favorable for the future. Changing into them won’t be easy, but everyone is committed and have strategies to meet that goal. Their mentality is clearly reflected in their population. Sao Paulo is a very beautiful city filled with art and people who care about the environment.

Favelas

 Favelas are part of Brasilian culture and part of the image that the rest of the world has of Brasil. Favelas are a very difficult concept to explain to those who are not from Brasil or a country that has slums that act in a similar way. Favelas are very real and it is sad how many people try to ignore their existence, especially people in the higher social classes. However, favelas are not exactly as the common misconception that most people have.

Yes, There is a lot of crime in favelas and favelas are controlled by drug lords and different gangs. Most of the time, the police turns a blind eye on what happens in the favelas. Sometimes, they become corrupt and partnerships are formed between them in exchange of money. In occasions, they even stage conflicts or actions taken in the favelas to make it look like they have it under control. Many examples of this are described in the article Performances of Police Legitimacy in Rio’s Hyper Favela by Erika Robb Larkins. Examples of this can also be seen in the movie Cidade de Deus. The movie is about a kid called Buscape and his life in the favela and those around him. In the movie, it is clearly seen how a lot of crime happens around in favelas and there is no law enforcement or government forces that do anything about it. Police officers are often seen acting for their own benefit, like when they are trafficking guns into the favela or when they rob some of the criminals.

However, that isn’t all that there is to favelas. They are also filled with normal people who are just carrying normal lives, doing the right things and want to be better and even go out of the favelas. One big example is Buscape, he wanted to become a photographer and didn’t get involved with in any of the gang wars that were happening. For these people, favelas are their homes, and they just happened to be born in a very dangerous place and have difficult lives. For them that is life and it is how it is. Some of them get too used to the life in a favela and find it hard to move out of them. For example, there are special programs to build houses and move people from favelas into them. But, many people just end up going back to their little house in the favelas.

The worst part of favelas and the movies and articles that are written about them, is the involvement of so many children. Children are surrounded by violence and aspire to be part of a gang because they think it is cool. They start with small jobs such as alerting or making errands, and climb up until they are the ones killing or trafficking. Favelas are vicious cycles that never end. Just as seen in City of God, at the beginning, Buscape’s brother and his friends are the main gang until they are killed by Ze Pequeno, who was a kid at the time and grows up to be one of the leaders of the favela, who then is killed at the end by other kids. There is hope that this will end one day, but doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon.

Alternative Energy After the Dialogue

I’ve always been interested in alternative energy and even have thought about being involved with it in my future career. However, despite of my interest, my knowledge was quite limited and there were many things I didn’t know about alternative energy or just energy in general. That is the reason why I decided to come on this dialogue. It was the perfect mix of theoretical and practical learning since we would have classes and trips to different alternative energy generation plants.

Coming from a business background, the class hasn’t been exactly the easiest class I’ve taken. However, I have used that as a challenge and a motivation to improve and learn more about the subject. Also, I have my classmates have explained things to me and helped me keep motivated.  I am always excited about the trips, I enjoy them a lot and learn very much from them. Also, my business background was useful for some assignments for the class.

This class has given a different appreciation of alternative energy. Although the energy is cleaner, it still affects the environment in a smaller scale. Alternative energy is really not that practical, is very expensive, and some sources are very inefficient. Our technology for some sources is still in infant stages and it is clear that there is a lot of room for improvement.

Regardless of all the issues that alternative energy has, it is clear that it is the way to go. After this class, more than any other time, I’ve realized how big of an issue it is to work on different alternative sources for energy since the sources we are currently using, such as oil wells, won’t last very long. I’ve also learn that in order to generate the required amount of energy, many different alternative energy sources have to be used.

I want to work with alternative energy in my future career. It is exciting to be part of something that will help society and be part of new discoveries. Besides, whoever is able to come out with the new technology to improve the efficiency from alternative energy, will generate a lot of profit, and after all, even if I care about the environment and society, I am first and foremost a business student.

Brasil's Identity

Brasil is has a very diverse population. First, there is the culture from the natives that were in the country before the Portuguese arrived, and some of their traditions are still kept today. After the arrival of the Portuguese, Brasil adopted many cultural aspects from them, some of the most evident are the language and religion. The Portuguese brought with them between 3 and 5 million slaves to Brasil. Their culture helped shape the county and eventually, the slaves, the natives and the Europeans all mixed together. As a developing country filled with warm people, Brasil has always been a welcoming country with many work opportunities for foreigners, attracting many immigrants.  Between 1870 and 1953, many Europeans immigrated into the country which explains the high amount of Germans, Italians and Spaniards in the country. Brasil also has the highest amount of Japanese immigrants in the world. All these different cultures have influenced the culture of the country and make it a very diverse country. This is evident when you walk down the streets in Brasil. There are people of many different colors, with different facial features, and many different styles all living together and being part of the same country. The Brasilian diversity, is a topic that many Brasilian writers discuss and ponder upon, just as Sergio Buarque de Holanda does in his book Roots of Brazil.

 Brasil is a developing country that is still growing at a pace of 2.5% per year, according to the World Bank. Brasil has the highest GDP in South America. Being in a growth stage, and having such a diverse culture and population, the country is still defining its identity, and feels the need to find a role model to follow. This makes a lot of sense because it is as if Brasil was a teenager, it is still finding its place and deciding what kind of country it wants to be. Since Brasil has the second highest GDP in the American continent, the role model that it has chosen is the United States. Brasil’s culture has been highly influenced by the US. For example, American music is very popular in Brasil. It is very common to hear it in tv, radios, bars, clubs, restaurants and even stores. Also, there are many stores with American clothing.

 Brasil is often comparing itself to the US. Brasilians even get sensitive about the word “American”. In the US, kids learn that South America and North America are two separate continents. Whereas in Brasil, America is just one country with subdivisions. So, Brasilians are Americans as well because they are from the continent. They don’t like it when Americans call themselves that because they feel left out. Sergio Buarque de Holanda comments on this in Roots of Brazil. He says: “For two centuries a North American mirror has been held aggressively to the South, with unsettling consequences. The time has perhaps come to turn the reflecting surface around. At the moment when Anglo America may be experiencing a failure of nerve, it seems timely to set before it the historical experience of Ibero America, not now as a case study in frustrated development but as the living out of a civilizational option.” Brasil needs to stop comparing itself with other countries and embrace its uniqueness.

 This lack of identity and feeling of being lost is reflected in many Brasilians. In the movie Que Horas Ela Volta?, we can see that there are many characters with identity problems. Jessica, one of the main characters is a clear example. She is a very independent person. She’s had to be because she grew up without her mother and went through very rough times alone. All her mistakes and challenges have shaped who she is, which is why she is very confident, she knows who she is. However, when she goes to stay with Val, her confidence becomes a problem. Val wants to impose a different personality on her. Val wants Jessica to become this shy obedient person. Jessica refuses to be someone other than herself and act as if she is lesser than the family her family works for.

 Carlos has lost his identity. He used to be a famous painter, but now he is retired, cannot smoke, feels constrained by his wife, avoids confrontations and his days pass by without much happening. This is why he finds Jessica so attractive and appealing. She represents what he wants to be. She is independent, young, smart, she has all her life ahead of her and is doing what she wants and becoming the person she wants to be.

 Barbara is often mean to Val because she has a connection with Fabinho that she doesn’t have. She sees that her son trusts Val more than his own mother. She wants the best for her son, but doesn’t know how to act as a mother. She is successful in her career, but it is more an image than a reality. Most of the money of the family was inherited by Carlos as opposed as being made by Barbara, which is the impression that everyone gets. Barbara is too worried about her image and what other people think. Thus, she is constantly forcing herself to be someone she is not and has missed on sharing time with her family, connecting with them, and developing deep bonds just to keep her image.

 Fabinho has been too shielded by Val and his parents from the real world. He doesn’t know who he wants to be and doesn’t know how to deal with the problems he encounters in his life. He is constantly being compared to other people, like Jessica, by his parents. The is a big pressure on him about who he has to become because his parents are important people. This often prevents him from being himself and leads him to failure like when he couldn’t get into the university he wanted.

 Finally, we have Val, the main and most complex character in the movie. Val has always been told how she has to behave and doesn’t break the rules imposed by society about how a maid ought to behave. She is though on Jessica because she wants her to succeed and behave well. However, their relationship is not very good. It is very tough to raise someone else’s kid while your own kid is being raised by another person. Fabinho is like a second son to her and she spoils him and still treats him like a kid because she is not ready to let go of raising a child. As if that could compensate for the years she missed with her own daughter. Which is why she and Jessica are often fighting. Jessica wants Val to break the rules imposed by society and be herself and Val wants Jessica to be proper and accepted by society. Val is often copying the style of Barbara and the way the family act to be accepted by them and feel like she is a better person. For example, she bought Barbara coffee cups and she chose them because they seemed modern and stylish like Barbara. At the end, she finally takes her daughter's advice and starts to just embrace her own personality. She goes into the pool of the family, which she constantly mentions should never be done. She quits her job and decides to live with her daughter and help raise her grandson. She takes the cups that Barbara didn’t appreciate with her. She kept saying that the cups looked very fancy on top of a plate of a different color, being mismatched. At the end, she decides to use them as she wants and just matches them. She stops trying to be accepted by society and be herself. She is seen very happy starting a new journey in her life alongside her real family.

 In conclusion, Brasil is a beautiful country with a very complex history, culture and population. But that makes it unique and a better country. Instead of comparing itself with other countries, it should embrace its uniqueness.

Ethanol Plant

Today, we visited Tono, an ethanol plant located about 3 hours from the city of Sao Paulo. We were received by a group of employees of the plant, who were going to give us a tour of the plant. They offered us breakfast, which was really nice, considering that we had to leave at 6:30 am to get to the plant and got a very light breakfast. They continued to explain the process to get ethanol out of sugar cane, and produce biomass energy.

First, they harvest and collect the sugar cane. They use machinery for harvesting most of the crops, but there are some places that cannot be accessed by the trucks and have to be harvested manually. The cane is carried into the plant and goes through the extraction process. In this step, the cane is shredded with blades and the juice is extracted from it. The cane goes through this process 5 times. 70% of the juice is extracted in the first station, and then water is added in the other 4 stations to extract the remaining 30%. The water consumption is very high, they need 230% of the amount of cane that they have. However, it can be reused, and they recycle water from other processes.

The solid residues of the process are called bagasse, which is then used to fuel boilers and generate energy, making the plant self sustainable. The juice is then taken through the evaporation process to take the water out and get a concentrated syrup called Molasses. They are able to capture the water through condensation and use it in other processes, such as irritation for the crops or adding it in the extraction stage. The Molasses is then further processed and some sugar crystals are created, which are then separated from the syrup through centrifugal. This is the process for making raw sugar, which they can sell to be processed into white fine sugar.

The molasses then goes through a fermentation process by adding yeast. This process is very similar to the fermentation of different alcoholic beverages such as wine, beer and cachaça. The difference is that for making ethanol, the yeast can be reduced, and the final product has a higher percentage of alcohol. It is then distilled to get ethanol.

They took us to the lab where they simulate the process in a smaller scale. Samples are taken to estimate how much ethanol they will produce and to make sure that there isn't anything wrong in any step of the process. They showed us a sample of ethanol with 93.8% pure, and we saw yeast in a microscope.

After that, we had lunch in the company's dinner and when we finished eating, went to a sugarcane plantation. We saw the special trucks used to cut the sugar cane, and our professor got to drive it. It has an arm with blades to take the leaves at the top of the cane and then uses some cylinders to get the cane which is cut with blades and thrown into a truck driving beside it. The residues of the leaves are on the ground and have to be cleaned up to prevent fires from occurring. They also clean the blades of the trucks every 3 hours and add water to prevent fires. Every truck has a fire extinguisher and there are water tanks nearby. We thanked our tour guides and translators for everything and headed back. This was another trip where I learned a lot.

The plant produces 1200 MWh per day and 300,000 liters of ethanol per day. There is very few waste in the process and the plant is pretty much self sustainable. However, it still has many issues. Big areas of nature have to be cut down to plant sugar cane. Besides hurting the environment, it takes a lot of space and all that land could be used for something else. The process is not too safe, since fires are quite common and when we got to the plant, there was a board that counted the days since the last accident in the different areas, and for some departments, the numbers weren't too high. Also, the plant had big chimneys, and looked like there was CO2 emission. Which makes me wonder if the production of ethanol damages the environment in some scale. There is still a lot of room to improve the processes of alternative energy.

Hydroelectric Plant

Today, we went to a hydroelectric plant in Cubatão in the state of São Paulo near Santos. The scenery on the way to the plant was beautiful and it reminded me a lot of home. We met our guide in the plant. He is one of the employees in the plant. He is very knowledgeable and was very nice and willing to answer any questions. The plant has an energy generation power of 900 MW. It has 8 external units, and 6 units that are underground. First, we went into the museum area of the plant, where we got to see a scale model of the external units and a real size part of it. Our guide explained how the units work. Basically, each unit has 2 turbines which have a needle to push the water into a shell, which then rotates because of the pressure creating mechanical energy, which is then converted into electrical energy. The external units generate around 458 MW combined, which means that each unit generates around 57.7 MW, and have 360rpm. Whereas each underground unit generates 70 MW and have 450rpm. He also told us that the maintenance for the external units was more complicated. Every day, one unit is stopped to do the maintenance and they have a lifespan of 84000 hours, which is roughly 10 years. They place magnetic powder in the shells to clean them. The Cubatão plant was founded by Canadians, and it uses the Pelton system, which is more efficient. It has been operating since 1926.

 

After the museum, we went into the plant and saw the external units. Then we went into the control room. The guide told us that they were working on a new system to modernize the controls and the way the plant is operated. The system and software technology wasn’t as advanced in the hydroelectric plant as it was in the solar plant. It could be because hydroelectricity is more mechanical and straight forward than solar energy.

Then, we went through a tunnel to go into the underground units. I noticed that 2 of the units were different from the rest and they were made in Switzerland as opposed to Canada, which is where the others were made. I asked our guide about the difference between the units. He said that they just bought the 4 Canadian turbines first and then got the other 2 together. Then, he complained about how Swiss turbines are not very good. I found it funny and it shows how every country has strengths and weaknesses and apparently turbines are not Switzerland’s strength.

The Cubatão plant made me realize that although alternative energy is the way to go, it also has many complications. It is very expensive, each turbine is around 2 million Reales, which is equivalent to 600 thousand dollars, and that doesn’t include all the installation and maintenance costs and other relatd expenses. The plant has 95 workers, including the people in maintenance, which means that while in the construction phase it generates many jobs, afterwards, it doesn’t require a lot of people to operate it and doesn’t create a lot of jobs. Although water is a renewable resource, it also has its limitations. The plant doesn’t really have room to grow more and add more units, neither externally nor internally. All they can do is improve the units and technology used to increase the energy generation between a 5 and 10 percent. The plant is also susceptible to be affected by social issues. For example, in 1932 there was a revolution in the state of São Paulo and 2 bombs were thrown into the plant. Only one exploded in the control room. The plant was targeted because they wanted to attack the vulnerable points and leave some people without electricity and water. Also, Cubatão used to be the most polluted city of the world. Before 1982, the government didn’t have any environmental laws or regulations and there were a lot of factories in the city, which were polluting without any control. Since the city is next to the sea and it is a port, it facilitates commerce and transport, which attracts companies. It also makes me think that perhaps the plant contributed in a way to all the pollution. Since the plant was there it was easy to get access to electricity, which made it a more attractive city for different companies. However, at the end, it is worth using alternative energy.

I really enjoyed the trip. I liked it more than the solar energy trip because I understood the way it works better. The explanations were clearer and it was less technical. Hydroelectricity was easier to understand for me because it is more visual since it is mechanical energy. Also, the guide spoke in Portuguese and we had a translator. Since I speak a little Portuguese and Spanish, which is my first language, is very similar, it was very easy for me to understand him and I didn’t have to lose some information between all the translations. I was actually expecting to see the external part of a damp, so that was a little disappointing, but overall it was a great trip and I cannot wait for the next one.

Solar Plant

Today, we visited CPFL, the main electric energy generation group in Brasil. CPFL is a clean energy provider with 4 utility companies and 8 distribution companies. First, we went to one of their utilities companies in Campinas, right outside of the city of Sao Paulo. There were two tour guides that showed us the company and answered any questions that we would have. They took us to the control room. In this room, the engineers monitor the levels of energy supplied 24/7 in case that any power outages may happen, and then communicate with the maintenance department to fix any issues as soon as possible. There are also agents responsible of providing customer services to the different customers.

We then went into the Smart Meter Intelligence room. Smart Metering measures the energy being used by the users for billing purposes, but also, it can control how much energy is being used.

Our guides showed us the electric cars the company is working on. Although they predict that soon, the amount of electric cars in Brasil will reach 1.5%, right now it is very low. There are only 11 charging stations in the whole state of Sao Paulo. Currently, they are monitoring 50 cars to get the necessary info for their research on making it cost effective. Their cars can only go for 120km and they cannot go very fast. Electric cars still have a long way to go in Brasil.

We then went on to Tanquinho, the main solar energy farm. We got the opportunity to see solar panels and the operation room for the plant with all the invertors and converters to turn energy from AC to DC. Some of their solar panels move rotate with the sun, which makes them 11% more efficient than normal solar panels. In general, their solar panels have an efficiency between 9 and 14 percent. This reflects the room for growth that the country still has for alternative energy, since currently solar panels in other countries have an efficiency between 20 and 24 percent.

                                   

At the end we got the opportunity to drive the electric car. The whole trip was a wonderful experience. In some occasions, it was challenging to understand all the concepts and explanations because I am not familiar with alternative energy and there were some language barriers. Our guides, who are employees at the company are not native English speakers and neither am I, so it was hard for them to translate the terms they use every day into a foreign language and then it was difficult for me to understand those terms in a different language. However, other members in our group were nice and patient enough to answer some of the questions I still had and help me understand better. Overall, I really enjoyed the trip, I'm very excited about the next trips and it will be very helpful in my future since I plan on getting more involved with alternative energy in the future and work in the business sector of the clean energy industry. 

                                  

Energy Consumption

Based on the data in the first graph, energy consumption has increased significantly and in an exponential rate from 1971 to 2013. For example, in 1971 the oil consumption was 4000 Mtoe, while in 2013 it is 6000 Mtoe.

The fast increase can be explained by different factors. For example, as seen in the “WorldPopulation Growth” graph from Our World In Data, up to 2050, the population is growing very quick and at an exponential rate. This means that each year there are more people born in the planet that will soon be consuming energy. Technology development has also played a role since each person has starting using more technological devices.

In the same way, as many countries continue developing, they will continue to use more energy. According to the World Bank, in 2010 the percentage of the population with access to electricity was 75.6, whereas in 2012 it is 84.6. Each day, there are more people getting access to electricity and services, which increases the world consumption of energy. This relates to the following graph, which shows that more developed countries like the US, Japan and France consume a higher percentage of energy compared to sub-developed countries like China and India. Even though China and India have larger populations, many of their citizens don’t have access to electricity and other different services.

All the graphs are positively correlated, meaning that the energy consumption can be expected to keep growing in the future. However, some positive conclusions can be derived from the first graph as well. For example, there has been a higher increase in renewable energy such as hydro and biofuels and waste in the past few years. This could be due to the growing concern for the environment.

Awareness of energy consumption is very important since each day we will be consuming more and more energy. In my personal case, most of the energy that I spend is in house energy and driving and flying since I use many technological devices and travel a lot. I also don’t recycle as much as I should, which is probably because recycling is not a huge part of the culture in my country as it is in the US. In the future I will be consuming more energy because I will own a car, travel more, own a house or a bigger apartment, and have a family, and should therefore invest more in renewable energy.

Brasil Expectations

Being from Venezuela, and having lived in different Latin American countries, I have heard of Brasil through my entire life. Despite of having a different language, I expect Brasil to have a similar culture to other Latin American countries, full of warm and nice people.

Brasil is a huge country and based on some things that I've heard and seen, I expect them to have a "go big or go home" mentality in many aspects. They also have very marked contrasts in the country, which I expect will be a little shocking.

Regardless of all the things I've heard and all the defects the country may have, I can't wait to try out their food, listen to their music, learn their dances, experience their culture and have my own views about the country.