July 2009
12 posts
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Coffee Break
One of the best things about Brazil has got to be the coffee break. At around 10:30am and 3:30pm we stop what we’re doing and have coffee, juice and an assortment of snacks.
The coffee break really is a great idea. It ends up spreading out the meals to 5 times a day, which keeps your blood sugar high. Brazilians also have a heavier lunch with a lighter dinner later on. I’m pretty sure this is...
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Visit To The Sugarcane Mill
Today we visited the Iracema Sugar Cane Mill, which is a few hours northwest of Sao Paulo. The mill takes sugar cane stalks from nearby plantations and refines it into sugar and ethanol. All of the sugar mills in Brazil make sugar and choose whether or not to make ethanol based on market prices. I have never been to a sugar mill or ethanol refinery today.
While sugar and ethanol are the main...
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Thoughts On Sustainability (lunch conversation)
Every now and then I sit down and try to write a post about my thoughts on energy, technology or sustainability. I’m sitting in a biofuels short course and at lunch we just had a thorough discussion about sustainability and how it relates to our future. Talk about a huge topic! The more I think about sustainability the more questions I come up with. Here’s what’s on my mind right now:
Where are...
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Learning About Brazilian Sugarcane
I’ve learned a great deal about the Brazilian sugarcane ethanol industry in the past few days and I have some thoughts… Brazil is intent on expanding their ethanol production, essentially doubling production by 2020 – producing 1000 million metric tons of cane. This amount will translate to approximately 54 billion liters of ethanol per year (based on 26.6 Blpy produced currently).
I wonder where...
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Brazilian Biofuels Short Course - Days 1 & 2
I’ve had some time to settle in down here so I’ll offer my thoughts on the past two days of classes. I’m down here in Sao Paulo for a Fulbright Biofuels Short Course. Basically it’s a bunch of researchers from Brazil and the US talking about biofuels. Most of the Brazilian research and focus has been on sugarcane, because, well, they grow a lot of it. The US has been represented by a member of the...
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Out and About in São Paulo - Day 1
After dropping our stuff off and taking a much needed shower, a few of us in the Fulbright Biofuels program hit the streets to find some lunch. We ended up eating just down the road from our flats in this incredibly posh mall. I’m not sure what it’s called, but there is an armed security guard with body armor on outside. The place is crazy inside. Check out what I believe is a clock:
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