Hello everyone, my name is Chris Oliveira and I am a Middler Chemical Engineer at Northeastern University. My primary reason for attending the Dialogue of Civilizations in Sao Paulo is to diversity my educational experience. As an engineer, my coursework tends to be heavily focused on mathematics, presenting problems that always have a definitive answer. Through my Summer 2 2013 coursework I hope to expose myself to thought provoking, real life issues that involve weighing pros and cons of different strategies rather than simply calculating a correct answer. Additionally, I think energy consumption is one of the most problematic issues confronting my generation. This also means that there is allot of room in this field to actually benefit the world as a whole while advancing my personal career goals.
I am most interested in learning about the specific ways Brazilian power companies are providing the country with sustainable energy. Statistically speaking, Brazil is embarrassing the United States in terms of percentage of domestic energy consumption coming from alternative energy sources. Brazil satisfies 85% of the demand using renewable energy while the United States can only claim 13%. I am very interested in determining what strategies could be adopted by American engineers.
The eco-friendly mentality of Brazil was immediately apparent upon my arrival to Brazil. Recycling bins were far more prevalent in subway stations and other public areas than back in the States. They were also designed to segregate the recyclables by material (paper, plastic, metal, and glass) upon depositing in the receptacle. Trash barrels are commonly mounted on telephone poles outside of restaurants. It was very noticeable that this reduces the number of cigarette butts littered on the sidewalk. Also interesting was the usage of recycled plastic to build a vertical garden outside of Vila Madalena.
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