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.