Sunday, August 24, 2014
8/21-last day
8/21/14
Today we went to fazenda columbari to look at their biofuel energy! They used the scat of the cows into biofuel by taking the poop and extracting the methane gas to power a generator. Although the idea seemed good, the animals were not very happy. You could smell the sadness in their poop, they didn't eat fresh grass but rather cotton seeds that were mostly likely laced with hormones and medication. They never got to go to the fields as the poop needed to be contained in a specific place in order to be used by the generator. The poop is kept in a containment center for 32 hours so the fermentation process can create the biofuel!
Then we went to the itaipu dam. It's owned by both Paraguay and Brazil. They split maintenance and profits exactly down the middle. Using gravity, the water is rushed down several turbines with a fall of 90 meters. This fall generated at most 98,630 GWh in 2013 breaking a world record! It was awesome to see the turbines, they are a lot bigger than I expected.
Then we went to a Buddhist temple, and there was a Buddhist monk there. He only ate one meal a day for 15 years and he relies on the charity of others for his clothes, food and shelter. He hasn't touched money in over 10 years! The temple was a beautiful, peaceful place.
Today we went to fazenda columbari to look at their biofuel energy! They used the scat of the cows into biofuel by taking the poop and extracting the methane gas to power a generator. Although the idea seemed good, the animals were not very happy. You could smell the sadness in their poop, they didn't eat fresh grass but rather cotton seeds that were mostly likely laced with hormones and medication. They never got to go to the fields as the poop needed to be contained in a specific place in order to be used by the generator. The poop is kept in a containment center for 32 hours so the fermentation process can create the biofuel!
Then we went to the itaipu dam. It's owned by both Paraguay and Brazil. They split maintenance and profits exactly down the middle. Using gravity, the water is rushed down several turbines with a fall of 90 meters. This fall generated at most 98,630 GWh in 2013 breaking a world record! It was awesome to see the turbines, they are a lot bigger than I expected.
Then we went to a Buddhist temple, and there was a Buddhist monk there. He only ate one meal a day for 15 years and he relies on the charity of others for his clothes, food and shelter. He hasn't touched money in over 10 years! The temple was a beautiful, peaceful place.
8/20
8/20/14
Today we went to the bird sanctuary and foz de igaçu!!! It was so awesome. Tucans are awesome, they are one of my favorite birds! We got to go into the cages with them and they flew overhead. I have never been so close to these amazing birds, I was so excited. I learned they ate pineapple and sugary gray sludge. After the bird sanctuary, we decided to go on a boat ride on rio de paraná! It was in between the Argentinian and Brazilian border, so we got to see a little bit of Argentina. It was beautiful! We also got to see a quati, it had a cut on it's head. We notified a park worker and they said if they found it they would make sure it was okay and perhaps rehabilitate it if it was severely hurt. Then we saw the falls of igaçu and crossed a bridge known as the devils throat. It was so cool, definitely larger than niagra falls!!
Today we went to the bird sanctuary and foz de igaçu!!! It was so awesome. Tucans are awesome, they are one of my favorite birds! We got to go into the cages with them and they flew overhead. I have never been so close to these amazing birds, I was so excited. I learned they ate pineapple and sugary gray sludge. After the bird sanctuary, we decided to go on a boat ride on rio de paraná! It was in between the Argentinian and Brazilian border, so we got to see a little bit of Argentina. It was beautiful! We also got to see a quati, it had a cut on it's head. We notified a park worker and they said if they found it they would make sure it was okay and perhaps rehabilitate it if it was severely hurt. Then we saw the falls of igaçu and crossed a bridge known as the devils throat. It was so cool, definitely larger than niagra falls!!
8/19
8/19/14
Today we went to an ethanol plant. It had a terrible sickly sweet smell, and was very loud. I could hardly hear Erica explain the ethanol making process, so luckily I was familiar with it. The machines were a lot larger than I thought they'd be. Trucks were constantly rolling up with 3 huge cargo holds of sugar cane behind them! This particular plant made about 50% edible sugar and 50% ethanol. First the sugar cane was washed and then processed with cutters 5 times. Then it was heated up in a syrupy vat. This syrup is either processed to sugar or processed to ethanol. There were technicians everywhere making sure the process went smoothly as the plant was so large! The scientists would test the purity of the sugar and the ethanol, and the sugar would be further processed in India. It didn't get refined here.
There were a lot of emissions coming out of the ethanol plant, and when we asked what specific gases were released, the engineers weren't sure. They said carbon dioxide, but it looked like there were other gases too.
Today we went to an ethanol plant. It had a terrible sickly sweet smell, and was very loud. I could hardly hear Erica explain the ethanol making process, so luckily I was familiar with it. The machines were a lot larger than I thought they'd be. Trucks were constantly rolling up with 3 huge cargo holds of sugar cane behind them! This particular plant made about 50% edible sugar and 50% ethanol. First the sugar cane was washed and then processed with cutters 5 times. Then it was heated up in a syrupy vat. This syrup is either processed to sugar or processed to ethanol. There were technicians everywhere making sure the process went smoothly as the plant was so large! The scientists would test the purity of the sugar and the ethanol, and the sugar would be further processed in India. It didn't get refined here.
There were a lot of emissions coming out of the ethanol plant, and when we asked what specific gases were released, the engineers weren't sure. They said carbon dioxide, but it looked like there were other gases too.
8/18
8/18/14
Today we travelled to the universidade federale de paraná to look that their biofuels. What they did was have species of algae formed in the lab. With this algae, they used photosynthesis and glycolysis to form triglycerides and other forms of natural energy like o2. These triglycerides could be made into fuel. The process itself was fairly new, and they were still experimenting with the direction the sun hit and how the different species of algae reacted in their different environments. It was really cool because the only "waste" product in the biofuel making process is oxygen because all of the other byproducts are recycled back into the process or used as food for fish!
I think biofuels is my favorite process so far, it is the most green and takes up the least amount of room for the amount of energy it produces. The only problem is that there's still a lot of work to be done to convince people it's a viable source due to the time needed to actually begin the algae making process.
Today we travelled to the universidade federale de paraná to look that their biofuels. What they did was have species of algae formed in the lab. With this algae, they used photosynthesis and glycolysis to form triglycerides and other forms of natural energy like o2. These triglycerides could be made into fuel. The process itself was fairly new, and they were still experimenting with the direction the sun hit and how the different species of algae reacted in their different environments. It was really cool because the only "waste" product in the biofuel making process is oxygen because all of the other byproducts are recycled back into the process or used as food for fish!
I think biofuels is my favorite process so far, it is the most green and takes up the least amount of room for the amount of energy it produces. The only problem is that there's still a lot of work to be done to convince people it's a viable source due to the time needed to actually begin the algae making process.
8/17
8/17/14
Today we went to a museum in Curitiba! We didn't have much time in the museum because there was a car accident on the road to Curitiba, so we were a couple hours late to the museum.
There was a Frida kahlo exhibit with pictures the Frida had collected and preserved throughout her life. The pictures were awesome and she wrote little anecdotes on some of them! It was so interesting that Jessica Cory and I didn't realize that we spent a whole hour there!! We only had an hour and a half to explore the museum so we rushed to quickly see the rest of the museum. We looked at indigenous tribal wear and it was gorgeous. Compared to the native Americans, the Brazilian natives had so much more colors to work with. The feathers they used were bright green, pinks and blues! The native Americans only had brown turkey feathers! It was such an interesting contrast I never thought of before.
Today we went to a museum in Curitiba! We didn't have much time in the museum because there was a car accident on the road to Curitiba, so we were a couple hours late to the museum.
There was a Frida kahlo exhibit with pictures the Frida had collected and preserved throughout her life. The pictures were awesome and she wrote little anecdotes on some of them! It was so interesting that Jessica Cory and I didn't realize that we spent a whole hour there!! We only had an hour and a half to explore the museum so we rushed to quickly see the rest of the museum. We looked at indigenous tribal wear and it was gorgeous. Compared to the native Americans, the Brazilian natives had so much more colors to work with. The feathers they used were bright green, pinks and blues! The native Americans only had brown turkey feathers! It was such an interesting contrast I never thought of before.
8/16
8/16/14
Today was white water rafting and spa day! I was really sick when I woke up but decided to power through the white water rafting. It was a terrible decision, I was cold the whole time even with a wet suit and wasn't able to enjoy the rapids as much as I wish I would have. The scenery was beautiful as fog hovered over the mountains. I hoped to see a monkey, but I did not. I did, however, see a ton of mosquitoes. They were so brutal, they drew blood upon biting us! They itch for weeks, and are completely different from North America mosquitoes. Feeling sick and getting bit by mosquitoes was definitely not my idea of fun, and although I'm glad I went rafting, I would never raft again in the winter.
After white water rafting, we went to a spa! It was so nice to warm up after shivering all day! There was a dry and wet sauna. The dry sauna had hot stones that released heat from an oven with eucalyptus while the wet sauna had wet warm air rise from a heater. I liked the dry sauna better! It made my throat feel a lot better.
Today was white water rafting and spa day! I was really sick when I woke up but decided to power through the white water rafting. It was a terrible decision, I was cold the whole time even with a wet suit and wasn't able to enjoy the rapids as much as I wish I would have. The scenery was beautiful as fog hovered over the mountains. I hoped to see a monkey, but I did not. I did, however, see a ton of mosquitoes. They were so brutal, they drew blood upon biting us! They itch for weeks, and are completely different from North America mosquitoes. Feeling sick and getting bit by mosquitoes was definitely not my idea of fun, and although I'm glad I went rafting, I would never raft again in the winter.
8/15
8/15/14
I wasn't feeling well so I slept until 12:30! Then I explored Florianopolis with Cory, Fowzia, Jessica. The firsts thing we did was go to a cafe and order coffee. We all ordered hot milk instead of coffee! I had a coconut cake and it tasted like corn bread with coconut! Then we went to the shops and everything is relativity cheap here. The only thing that was expensive was clothing. The city felt very safe, we all traveled together and never once did we feel in danger of pick-pocketing or being mugged. We were warned about dangers constantly, but I think Florianopolis is safer than Philly is when it comes to getting mugged.
No one spoke English so it was adventurous finding our own way. Because it was out last night in Florianopolis we went to a bar called Treze where they played a bunch of 90s music. It was so much fun, all of the Brazilian people were so nice to us because they knew we were American. We were so loud, everyone else was quiet. We made anew friends named Guillermo and Felipe and they tried to teach us more Portuguese because we were so bad at it. I learned pineapple is abacaxu pronounced abocashe!
I wasn't feeling well so I slept until 12:30! Then I explored Florianopolis with Cory, Fowzia, Jessica. The firsts thing we did was go to a cafe and order coffee. We all ordered hot milk instead of coffee! I had a coconut cake and it tasted like corn bread with coconut! Then we went to the shops and everything is relativity cheap here. The only thing that was expensive was clothing. The city felt very safe, we all traveled together and never once did we feel in danger of pick-pocketing or being mugged. We were warned about dangers constantly, but I think Florianopolis is safer than Philly is when it comes to getting mugged.
No one spoke English so it was adventurous finding our own way. Because it was out last night in Florianopolis we went to a bar called Treze where they played a bunch of 90s music. It was so much fun, all of the Brazilian people were so nice to us because they knew we were American. We were so loud, everyone else was quiet. We made anew friends named Guillermo and Felipe and they tried to teach us more Portuguese because we were so bad at it. I learned pineapple is abacaxu pronounced abocashe!
8/14/14
8/14/14
Today we toured Florianopolis. We got to go near the top of a mountain to get a bird eyes view of the city. What's interesting is that there doesn't appear to be a city planner and most of the buildings are close together and have no real organization.We also saw a 400 year old fig tree in the park! Brazilians are all about conservation, they have supports to help the tree grow. There are also recycle and trash bins all over the city. It's cleaner here too, with less trash on the ground. I know Pittsburgh definitely has more trash on its streets and it is considered one of the cleanest cities in America!
We went to a fishing village and I became friends with a lot of stray dogs! One was really skinny and looked like he had a tumor. Brazil really needs to get more animal shelters, it's really sad that these animals live without love.
We went to see the speaker and he talked about Brasils need for renewable energy at the University, unisul. He talked about Brasils need for alternative energy because the drought hasn't been able to provide enough water for hydroelectricity. There are many challenges ahead, but the speaker was hopeful.
Today we toured Florianopolis. We got to go near the top of a mountain to get a bird eyes view of the city. What's interesting is that there doesn't appear to be a city planner and most of the buildings are close together and have no real organization.We also saw a 400 year old fig tree in the park! Brazilians are all about conservation, they have supports to help the tree grow. There are also recycle and trash bins all over the city. It's cleaner here too, with less trash on the ground. I know Pittsburgh definitely has more trash on its streets and it is considered one of the cleanest cities in America!
We went to a fishing village and I became friends with a lot of stray dogs! One was really skinny and looked like he had a tumor. Brazil really needs to get more animal shelters, it's really sad that these animals live without love.
We went to see the speaker and he talked about Brasils need for renewable energy at the University, unisul. He talked about Brasils need for alternative energy because the drought hasn't been able to provide enough water for hydroelectricity. There are many challenges ahead, but the speaker was hopeful.
8/13/14
8/13/14
Today we travelled to the wind energy farm. It was really interesting to see that the cows were roaming around the wind turbines. They did this because the land that the wind energy company uses is rented from farmers! This way, the farms get a little extra profit and the company gets to use land in the most optimal places. Unlike the coal plant we saw yesterday, the technology here was all digital. The manager of the company was telling us that he could potentially control the turbines from his house. This allows for inspection of the turbines 24/7, which is critical when even the slightest error can cause less energy intake!
The turbines are very advanced in that they can stop their blades when they detect "storm winds" or winds higher than 40m/s. When we got there, the wind was at 9m/s and it was really windy. We watched as birds couldn't even fly due to the wind! The birds had to fly close to the ground. It was strange to see how the turbines affected the local wildlife. There were hardly any birds in the sky, when Brazil usually has a lot of birds flying all around. Watching the bird struggle to fight against the wind made me realize that the wind turbines do a lot more damage to birds than I previously thought. After we saw the wind turbines we headed back to Florianopolis!
Today we travelled to the wind energy farm. It was really interesting to see that the cows were roaming around the wind turbines. They did this because the land that the wind energy company uses is rented from farmers! This way, the farms get a little extra profit and the company gets to use land in the most optimal places. Unlike the coal plant we saw yesterday, the technology here was all digital. The manager of the company was telling us that he could potentially control the turbines from his house. This allows for inspection of the turbines 24/7, which is critical when even the slightest error can cause less energy intake!
The turbines are very advanced in that they can stop their blades when they detect "storm winds" or winds higher than 40m/s. When we got there, the wind was at 9m/s and it was really windy. We watched as birds couldn't even fly due to the wind! The birds had to fly close to the ground. It was strange to see how the turbines affected the local wildlife. There were hardly any birds in the sky, when Brazil usually has a lot of birds flying all around. Watching the bird struggle to fight against the wind made me realize that the wind turbines do a lot more damage to birds than I previously thought. After we saw the wind turbines we headed back to Florianopolis!
8/12/14
8/12/14
Today we had free Brazilian breakfast! I had papaya for the first time and it tasted surprisingly neutral. The coffee here is a lot better than America. As soon as breakfast was over we traveled to the Tractebel Energia. They burn fossil fuels for energy to sustain Brazilian electricity. Because Brazil is so heavily dependent on wind and hydroelectricity, when there is a drought or no wind there needs to be a back up energy source. Tractebel Energia provides this alternate resource.
They plan on expanding in coming years and try to be as green as possible when burning coal. They create music programs for the community as well as replanting parts of the forest that were lost due to deforestation. By getting involved in the Brazilian community by lessening their carbon footprint, Tractebel reverses some of the coal pollution damage done. All of their technology was fairly old, too. Only the monitors seemed to be from the 2000s. When we got there, there was an error blinking on the screen. But we were told to ignore it and it happens because the coal is impure or "dusty", so it messes with the system and it happens all the time. They said because of all of the coal dust, only 40% of the coal burned is used for energy.
Today we had free Brazilian breakfast! I had papaya for the first time and it tasted surprisingly neutral. The coffee here is a lot better than America. As soon as breakfast was over we traveled to the Tractebel Energia. They burn fossil fuels for energy to sustain Brazilian electricity. Because Brazil is so heavily dependent on wind and hydroelectricity, when there is a drought or no wind there needs to be a back up energy source. Tractebel Energia provides this alternate resource.
They plan on expanding in coming years and try to be as green as possible when burning coal. They create music programs for the community as well as replanting parts of the forest that were lost due to deforestation. By getting involved in the Brazilian community by lessening their carbon footprint, Tractebel reverses some of the coal pollution damage done. All of their technology was fairly old, too. Only the monitors seemed to be from the 2000s. When we got there, there was an error blinking on the screen. But we were told to ignore it and it happens because the coal is impure or "dusty", so it messes with the system and it happens all the time. They said because of all of the coal dust, only 40% of the coal burned is used for energy.
8/11- arrival!!
Today I got to Brazil! I was very lucky that Alejandro was on the same flight as me. Because he speaks Spanish, he was very helpful when translating the directions of the flight attendants who helped us get to our gate. I realized soon after I arrived that hardly anyone spoke English!! Usually a lot of people speak English as their second language, but not here! We got to the hotel with Rodrigo and I took the longest nap and shower. When we met up with everyone in the class, we decided to explore Florianopolis' night life. I had a caprina which is a tequila drink with sugar, and it tasted good for being 40% alcohol but that was all I had because it was so strong!
Once we went out to drinks, we decided to explore the beach. There were a lot of signs warning against swimming because the water was so polluted. The sewage is in the water, so that's why it was toxic. The other side of the island had clean water but we decided not to walk that far.
Once we went out to drinks, we decided to explore the beach. There were a lot of signs warning against swimming because the water was so polluted. The sewage is in the water, so that's why it was toxic. The other side of the island had clean water but we decided not to walk that far.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
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