Landfill Visit

On Thursday we went to the stinkiest place I've ever smelt. Here's a brief intro on landfill power, followed by my captioned pics from the day.

Landfill 101: What to do with waste

All the trash that we take out has to go somewhere. Some things can be sorted out and recycled, but for the rest, it usually ends up in a landfill. It can be incinerated first, to take up less space, or it can be thrown right in and buried.

It doesn't just sit there forever. Trash decomposes and rots, producing gases like methane and a nasty liquid called leachate, which seeps out of the landfill.

Landfills are engineered to be as minimally environmentally harmful as dumping trash underground can be. This involves placing a layer of 5mm polyethylene (thin plastic sheet) down before stacking alternating layers of garbage and soil. This prevents the leachate from seeping into the ground below the landfill and contaminating drinking water. Pumps move leachate out from the bottom of the landfill so it doesn't accumulate too much. This leachate is then stored and treated. Some landfills also have vertical pipes installed throughout the pit to collect gases produced by the rotting garbage. This gas, which is composed of roughly 50% methane, can be used as a source of power to generate electricity. (In fact, the campus of UNH uses landfill methane to generate much of its power!)

However, the generators and associated equipment is fairly expensive, so the technology hasn't really been shown to pay for itself yet. Still, even if the methane isn't used for electricity generation, it is beneficial to the environment if the gas is collected and burned, as methane is a greenhouse gas 10-20 times more potent than CO2, so landfills with uncaptured methane can actually contribute to climate change.

The other method to generate electricity from trash is through incineration. If you're trash is energy dense enough, you can just burn it and get power immediately, then bury the heavy ash after. One benefit is that is reduces the volume of the trash about 90%, one major downside is that is can produce light ash in the air.

The Sao Joao landfill to the east of Sao Paulo was opened in 1992, and by 2004 was nearly filled with garbage from Sao Paulo, (SP produces 15,000 tons of trash/day). There was a growing call for a solution to the methane problem, so a company came in and set up a power plant there, which has been operational since 2008, burning the methane biogas and producing around 20MW of power on average.

This is considered a renewable energy source, as there will always be a fresh supply of trash. The idea doesn't work quite as well in the U.S. and other European countries, because we have a higher proportion of packaging in our trash, compared with Brazil's more compostable rotten-produce-like waste.

First off, it was a cold morning. We've had quite a cold, wet week here, after the first 2 were really nice. I woke up and instantly knew I was going to bring my blanket on the bus with me. Almost everyone else did too, so we all looked so cold and pathetic carrying around our little green blankies. It was so hillarious. 

As soon as we got off the  bus we were assaulted with a putrid, vomit smell that was so strong we had to cover our noses up or face retching. 

Hayley and Harrison's faces say it all. We thought the cold would keep the smell down better than if it was a hot summer day, but the lady who gave us a brief overview of the landfill said that its usually worse on wet rainy days. Like this one. Either way, you couldn't pay me enough to work there!

To smile would be deceitful

There's roads that curl around the landfill for company trucks. The pool in the bottom right of the photo is for storing leachate. 

So there was actually 2 companies working at this complex. EcoUrbis, who gave us the presentation, is responsible for one site, they just collect the gas and burn it on site without producing power. BioGas, responsible for the other site on the complex, has invested in a power plant to generate electricity from methane gas. So we started at one, and then drove a few minutes on the bus to the generation facility of BioGas. 

Gustavo translating for an employee in the control room

Cold and smelly, some of us had really checked out. 

This behemoth is one generator. There must have been around 20 of these things lined up through the facility.

Some seemed to be out of order, however.

Visit with the Sub Secretary of Renewable Energy in Sao Paulo State

On Tuesday we met with Milton Flavio Marques Lautenschlager, a Sub-Secretary of Energy in Sao Paulo State, responsible for carrying out the state's renewable energy plans. Interestingly enough he's actually a professor and has backgrounds in both medicine and law.

His presentation was interesting, and there was time to ask him questions afterward. This could get dense, so if you don't like numbers you may just want to skim.

First off, Brazil gets way more of its energy from renewable sources than we do in the U.S. As a country, Brazil gets 45% of its energy from renewables, which are primarily sugar cane products (18%), hydroelectric power (14%), wood and charcoal (10%), and other renewables, such as wind (4%).

Sao Paulo is even slightly better (55% from renewables), with the increase coming from sugar cane.

If the U.S. was on here, we'd be at about 12% renewable, the majority being hydroelectric plants.

The U.S. doesn't have as extensive of a river network as Brazil does, and we don't have the right climate to grow sugar cane (we have corn, but that's nowhere near as good). So this somewhat explains why we're so far behind. But the U.S. still has plenty of land and potential for renewable energy. 

Sao Paulo's goal is to further increase their share of renewables from 55% to 69% by 2020. It's called the Paulista Energy Plan (PEP). It's ambitious. 

Most of the increase comes from sugar cane, (of which the state of Sao Paulo produces 18% of the worldwide supply! Half goes to food, and half goes to fuel.) I asked if there was a economic effect from diverting a food crop to be used to make fuel, (which happened in the U.S. with corn, prices increased and the idea quickly lost popularity), and if Brazil or Sao Paulo State had enacted polices to counter this price increase. However, he informed us that Brazil has so much land that this kind of diversion wasn't required, and there really wasn't an issue like that here in SP. 

He talked about how to get more energy out of the sugar cane by retrofitting plants to use more parts of the cane, like the pontas and palha. Also, for every 1 liter of ethanol produced, there is 13.5 liters of a by-product fluid called vinhaca (pronounced vinyaza), which can't be used as is, but can be converted into a biogas that is identical in composition to natural gas. If fully utilized it could provide 2.25 GW of additional power to Sao Paulo, replacing about 35% of their current natural gas demand. 

He then went through each of the conventional renewable technologies and described their potential in SP. 

Eolico -- Wind

None currently in SP state, though Brazil has wind power. It's concentrated in the northeast part of the country because its windier there. Wind speeds should be on average 6.5 m/s (14mph) for a area to be suitable. There are several spots in SP that meet this criteria, but the cost of land is higher there than where the existing turbines are in the NE. 

Solar -- Solar

SP has just the one PV plant in Tanquinho that we visited, which has a tiny capacity of 1.1 MWp. Germany currently leads the world in solar energy production, but Brazil has a higher potential than either Germany or the U.S. due to its proximity to the Equator. SP accesses that their sunny areas in the interior of the state could provide 9.1 GWp of energy if fully developed. However, solar technology still too expensive, especially photovoltaics. Small scale, off-grid usage of solar thermal, and some photovoltaic is much more likely in the near term. They are also looking at installing panels on buildings with large flat roofs, like schools, supermarkets, and department stores. Habib's, a popular arab fast food chain, has announced that they are considering installing PV panels on all their stores roofs.

Hydroelectrica -- Hydroelectric power is relatively maxed out in SP, according to the Secretary. There is also strong resistance from environmental groups in creating large new dams or rerouting water flows. Small-scale projects are in progress however, and more potential is seen in these small hydro plants. 

Transportation

Responsible for vast majority of SP's carbon emissions. The 2010 demand was 40% diesel, 38% ethanol, 20% gasonline, 2% biodiesel. They are trying to cut gasoline and diesel in half by 2020, and make up for the difference with an increase in ethanol. I asked about electric vehicles, since I noticed no mention of them, but he said that they have had enough difficulty preventing brownouts from lack of supply, and they wouldn't be able to take on the extra demand from electrifying transport. They are, however, negotiating with Toyota about an ethanol-electric hybrid, that would be pretty interesting.

There were recently large reserves of oil and natural gas found in Brazil, which has made the Secretary's job of convincing people to invest in wind, solar, and biofuels somewhat more difficult. 

Marcadao Municipal de Sao Paulo

On Monday we went to a food marcadao (market) to check out some of the exotic fruits and vegetables they have here in Brazil that we don't see in the U.S.

It's a huge indoor market that they have every day. They also had meats, cheeses, nuts, wines, spices, and more. Some things were surprisingly expensive, but its also very fresh, and the vendors routinely give out free samples if you ask to try things. It's also expected that you will barter for the actual price. Which is interesting when you don't speak the language well. But its not too hard, the price is often written, or shows up on the scale when they weigh it, so you can just offer a little less than you're willing to pay, and see how it goes. É possível provar? (Can I taste?) and Quanto custa? (How much does it cost?) were useful phrases of course. That and pointing. Here's some pics:

Pitaia Colombiana -- Columbian Pitaya (or dragonfruit)

don't think I tried this one...but for R$ 100/quilo, must be good! (~$20 US/lb)

also seen above: Cereja -- Cherry

(right) Rambutau Lichia -- Rambutan Lynchee

Unanimously the coolest looking fruit any we saw at the market, this is a fruit native to southeastern asia, especially Malaysia. Google tells me that rambutans and lynchees are actually different fruits, so this looked actually looked more like a rambutan. Anyhoo, we all wanted to try it! It was really good, sort of like a grape on the inside, but a little fleshier, and tasted excellent. 

 (left) Caju -- Cashew 

Ah the cashew fruit. So cashews are actually the stem of a fruit, and this is that fruit. Its actually very common in Brazil, and they have suco de caju (cashew juice) right alongside suco de laranja (orange juice) and suco de uva (grape juice) in stores. They're very sweet, and the texture is soft, sort of like a rotting apple. Look how funny they look! I ended up buying one. I successfully bartered from R$ 6,24 to R$ 5,00 (about $2.35) not a significant difference really but more just for the experience. I put it to good use, as you'll see in a later entry!

Important note: Fortunately someone informed me, you can't actually eat the raw cashew on the fruit. It's toxic. I looked it up, and its true. It's because it contains a chemical called urushiol, which is actually the same chemical found in poison ivy. If you are allergic to poison ivy, eating the raw cashew can actually kill you. 

If you're interested, here's the link:

http://www.wisegeek.org/are-raw-cashews-really-poisonous.htm

Fruta Pinha (Annona Squamosa) -- Sugar Apple

Ehh, worth trying, but not my favorite. Kind of grainy and pear-like

Figo Roxo -- Purple Fig

Goiaba -- Guava

Carambola Doce -- Sweet Starfruit

Melancia Baby -- Baby Watermelon 

Noni in Natura (Morinda Citrofolia L.) -- Natural Noni

A Peruvian fruit high in antioxidants and taken as a supplement to boost the body's defenses

Claimed by an online supplier:

"Immune system booster, cell regenerator (powerful antioxidant), natural antidepressant (stimulates serotonin), a regulator of blood sugar, detoxification (eliminates toxins), reducing cholesterol absorption; regulator of digestion and absorption enhancer nutrients"

Mamao Formosa -- "Beautiful" Papaya 

(mamao is definitely papaya, and google gave me "beautiful" for formoso)

Actually it probably has to do with its massive size, because there were some normal-sized papayas nearby. Papayas are alright. Its a standard part of most Brazilians breakfasts. I kind of think it tastes like armpit.

Abacaxi Perola -- Pearl (?) Pineapple

My god is the pineapple here good. It's so sweet and soft, you can eat the whole core. And its more of a whiteish color, not super yellow like in the States. Again this adjective probably has more to do with the small size of these pineapples. 

Quiabo -- Okra

The brown ugly things in the middle are cacao apparently

Amendoa -- Almond 

They had a ton of varieties of these, including some that had a metallic looking coating. Odd. I should have tried some!

Just a cool looking spice rack. Its a shaft that spins around, and the lids are fastened to the shaft. So you just have spin the jar you want to remove to the bottom, then unscrew the jar away from the lid. 

Castanha do Para -- Brazil Nut (in Brazil!!)

Time for a lunch break. We'd heard that the mortadela was a real classic sandwich here. Its like a fancier bologna, they say. 

Saw this device across the way, along with some sugar cane! Think it makes something sweet. 

My half of the mortadela. Think it could have used a little more meat though. Hahaha no it tasted a lot like a hot dog. The cheese was really good on there too. Actually though, some other students went to the busier mortadela place and they had even more meat on it, like almost twice this amount!

I got suco de maracuja (passionfruit juice) and Emily got abacaxi (pineapple) perhaps?

Arturo and Kelly. Kelly's was like abacaxi with mint flavoring I think

Photos from Week 2

Hey I'm catching up!

Me, Jorge, Kelly, Arturo, and Billy just loved this sign.

Have I introduced the caipirinha yet? The national drink of Brazil, made with cachaza (or vodka) and a fruit of your choosing. Lime is the standard, but I've also tried morango (strawberry), abacaxi (pineapple), and kiwi (kiwi). 

Beautiful. They bring it out real rare and light a fire under it, you take it off when its cooked to your taste. There was carne (beef), frango (chicken), and some type of salsicha (sausage), possibly linguica ((c with a squiggle, sounds like an s)) (linguista)

We went to a famous art museum in Sao Paulo called the Pinacoteca. We had a tour guide and translator, but we really only saw two rooms out of 4 floors because they talk so much! We had a little time to roam around at the end, and so a group of us followed this odd thumping bass noise to a long dark hallway and started to walk down it. It was pitch black and the pounding was getting louder, faster and faster. We reached the end of the hall, and it opened into a small room with people sitting inside watching a flashing screen. Right as we got there tho, the show ended, and everyone emptied out. Bummer. 

With the tour guide, we stared at this painting for so painfully long. Probably at least a half hour, just trying to interpret the meaning of it. It's name translates to "Sharpening, Interrupted". It's like a rural Brazilian guy who is just chillin' in the countryside, hard at work. He's just there sharpening his axe, and then what? Who's there? What do they want? What is going through this man's head? So many questions...

"Did you know?"

(Best) worst Elvis impersonator ever!

Eggs. They look normal. But when I cracked them open they had oddly bright orange yolks. Kinda freaked me out, since most other peoples' were a normal yellow. Maybe I got some kind of special eggs? Other weird thing about eggs here: They don't refrigerate them. Combination of the orange yolks and non-refrigeration had me eating 3 and tossing the other 3. They tasted okay..I think. But I didn't want to die.

Suco (juice). They have really good juices here. Sometimes they leave them unsweetened, and you add your own sugar, like we do with coffee. Brazilians love things really sweet. 

I got some fruits at the supermercado, including carambola (starfruit). Came out pretty good.

This was one of the best burgers I've ever had. At the Acai cafe place near our school here, I ordered a burger. It came out with a fried egg, two different kinds of cheese, and a bunch of other good stuff on there. I might have to get another one before I leave. Soo good. 

Walked into a store that had a lot of dried fruits, wine, cheeses, meats, fish etc. Looked really good, but we were on the way to our samba class or something probably, so I didn't get anything.

Fruit pastes. Like a really sweet jam kind of. Guarana is a common one. 

Passing underneath the metro station on the way to the Latin American history museum

Check out this piece of art. That blood is dripping in the shape of Central and South America. Deep.

Sweet diving board?

View of the square from behind the hand in the late afternoon

Supposed to look like a flower from some angle...

Cool looking bridge. Supposed to look like a swam.

We went inside this building. It was huge, all one big vast room. It had these huge stone pillars that told the history pictorally of each of the peoples that came to be in Brazil. I would have taken pictures, but it wasn't allowed. 

By far the coolest thing in the Latin American history museum. This see through floor which featured a large but intricate model map of South and Central America. So cool!

This is Sao Paulo (left) and Rio de Janiero (right)

Mayan temples!

The Panama Canal!

Machu Pichu!

Joe, Kelly, and Emily, with the big hand in the background

Ahh the rodizio! Best buffet ever. Brazilian steakhouse style, there are constantly waiters bringing around hunks of various meats, and if you want it, they'll slice a piece off for you. Pretty fancy, and really really good food. And the price translates to less than $18 US. That kind of meal in Boston would be triple that probably, and not even the real thing. 

First course. I tried as many things as I could, without filling up. There was lobster stroganoff in there. Had to save room for the meat coming around.

The first of many many little plates of meat. Different cuts of beef, cooked however you like, sausage, chicken, lamb, and I can't even remember what else. Oh yeah, I tried chicken hearts.

Pretty good buffet of sushi too. They have sushi places everywhere down here from all the Japanese influence. They even had the little seeds you can put on there, and the sweet eel sauce that goes with it, which is one of the tastiest sauces ever. Also, I loaded my soy sauce up with wasabi. It was a more liquidy kind of wasabi, not like what you usually see in the U.S. 

Some people capped off dinner with a dessert of creme brulee, torched right on the table. I tried a bite. Wicked good.

                                                    Back to the Ibirapuera Parque for our picnic!

 Like I said, this park has everything for everyone. 11 times bigger than the Boston Common, it is the second largest and most popular park in Sao Paulo. This large covered concrete pad is for anything with wheels, so you see lots of skateboarders, longboarders, roller skaters, and casual bikers hanging out. 

We ate by the waters edge. We had sandwiches made by Chef Harrison, and 4 bottles of wine that we killed between the 7 of us. Really good group and a fun time. 

The fountains turned on for us during our picnic! They're not the Bellagio fountains, but they were pretty good, and there was one spout that shot up super high!

Soleil, Harrison, Jared, Kelly, Sunny, and Emily

  

We threw bread crumbs to the fish and they would grab it within a few seconds! A duck came over too, and we made them race to the food. 

We stayed till sunset

The long exposure time of my camera's night setting actually makes this look cool!

Their packaging tells you how long to keep things, and what temp to store them at.

Saturday night pub crawl time!!! We went to four different places. This is Joe, Hayley, and Arturo at the second one. 

Making new friends! (Who are these people?) haha

Just priceless. haha People liked talking to us, even just to practice their English I think!

Jared, Hayley, Emily, Kelly, and Arturo

Lia, Jordan, Soleil, and Rachel

This is the third place! It was a dancing bar, and at one point there was a group line dance that we had never heard and we just tried to go along with it!

After this, we got a drunk bus and drove to Club Clash, an electronic music club. Jared and I talked to a couple guys in line and ended up adding them on facebook. haha  We didn't stay at the club that long though, since we got tired by then, and the bass was practically punching holes in my body. 

We got up the next morning and went biking! Sao Paulo has an awesome thing they do every Sunday where they cone off the bike lane and a ton of people go for a casual Sunday ride! They actually have slower speed limits on Sundays, and they have people at every intersection with flags guiding the bikers around. It's really cool, I wish we had this in Boston! The bike rentals were really cheap too, only R $ 6,00/hr, (less than $3US/hr)

What?? Elvis again? Yep!

Stopped at a red light on Avenue Paulista, the main drag here in Sao Paulo, with all the big financial institutions and high class shopping. Notice the bike lane coned off, and the guy under the umbrella on the left, holding the red flag down to keep us from running the red light. 

Hmm. Interesting.

Quite a few homeless people under this bridge in the park

Mollie realizing that the great timer picture that she set up of us on our bikes didn't save because she forget to put her memory card back in. #Fail

Soggy gnocchi with green peppers and tomato sauce. Not my best creation :( 

We went to Independence Park to learn more about the history of Brazil. I won't bore you with the details of it (or I just don't remember...haha) but a few points: Brazil was settled by the Portuguese and was a huge asset for them. Brazil declared independence in 1822, and this monument was built in 1922 to celebrate their centennial. The name Brazil came from the Brazil tree, from which an important dye was extracted. Brazil brought over Africans from Mali, Nigeria, and Cameroon and sold them into slavery, similar to the U.S. Brazil outlawed slavery in 1888, just 125 years ago. 

Interesting bit about this monument--We noticed that the horsed men carrying swords had the swords missing, leaving just the handle. We thought this was from either vandalism or wear and tear, but it turns out they were actually cut as a form of protest, for when Brazil was under the control of a military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985. Pretty cool. 

Old house made from mud