Milton Flavio Lecture and Landfill Site Visit

This week we went on two field trips. The first one on Tuesday was to the Sao Paulo state government building where we attended a lecture from Milton Flávio Marques Lautenschlager, the sub-secretary of renewable energy. He is a medical doctor by training, a medical professor at a local university and is currently in charge of the implementation of renewable energies in Sao Paulo state. His presentation focused on Sao Paulo’s efforts to reach the proposed goals of the Paulista energy plan. Sao Paulo and Brazil’s renewable indexes are much higher compared to the rest of the world. As of 2009, they were 55.5% predominantly from biomass and 65% predominantly from hydroelectricity respectively, whereas the world index was 12.5%. The plan intends to further Brazil’s efforts: a reduction in carbon emissions of 20% and an increase in reliance on alternative energies from 55% to 69% by 2020. As of yet, hydroelectricity has been one of the most important sources of energy in Sao Paulo but it's potential has maxed out. Now the main focus is the expansion and development of other forms of renewables, such as solar, wind, and biofuels. One of the ways he intends to increase ethanol reliance is to better utilize the three components of the sugar cane plant; the dendrites, chaff/straw, and the vinhaca. Solar power has yet to be tapped to its fullest potential. Sao Paulo’s current solar power installed capacity equivalent to that of Germany. There will be a significant rise in solar with the Paulista energy plan. One of the ways the plan intends on cutting emissions by 20% is by addressing the transportation and industry sectors, which as of now contribute to 87% of the state's carbon emissions.

The sub-secretary emphasized that Sao Paulo is the economic locomotive of Brazil, generating 1/3 of the country's GDP. Because of this role, there is pressure for Sao Paulo to meet energy goals while meeting consumption levels, which are expected to rise.

We made it onto the Sao Paulo Energy website!

http://www.energia.sp.gov.br/lenoticia.php?id=530

The second field trip was to the EcoUrbis landfill, located 2 hours outside of Sao Paulo. The site was particularly odorous the day we went because of the rain. The site stores waste in layers divided by a high-pressure tolerant plastic to avoid leakage. The methane that is emitted by the heat and pressure of the trash is collected, processed and sold as fuel. We were then taken to a neighboring landfill, the Sao Joao landfill. This site reached its waste capacity in 2008 and rather than selling the fuel, the landfill produces electricity on site. Their 16 generators produce 175 MWh of energy per plant per year.