Milton Flavio Marques LautenSchlager

On Tuesday, we had the honor of meeting the SubSecretary of Renewable Energy for the State of Sao Paulo, Dr. Milton LautenSchlager. Dr LautenSchlager gave a presentation for us regarding renewable energy policies in the state as well as future goals and projects.

The class above with the SubSecretary!

Meeting with the SubSecretary was very exciting, as well as a great opportunity. He was very optimistic and enthusiastic about maintaining as well as increasing Sao Paulo's position regarding the concepts of renewable energies. Dr LautenSchlagger shared with us his goal of reaching 69% renewable energy by 2020.  Dr LautenSchlagger described Sao Paulo as "a locomotive that pulls the train of the country economically." This is a large position to live up to and therefore Sao Paulo has implemented many laws that stimulate production and utilization of renewable energies. The world average for renewable energy is 12.5%, brazils average is 45.5% and Sao Paulo's average is 55.5%. this goes to show the strong drive they have to implement these renewable technologies. Another goal that the commissioner told us was the Sao Paulo plans to reduce carbon emissions by 20%, an ambitious step as the city continues to grow.

There are 3 main pillars 1. Biofuels 2. Wind 3. Solar. We were informed that Sao Paulo is maxed out for hydraulic power and gains can only now come from solar and wind. To track investment, SP offers 31 airports, 5,000 km of railways and 35000km of paved roads for its citizens. There are obviously many differences between Brazil and the U.S.'s renewable energy programs, the largest being amount as I mentioned above. Both countries however offer tax incentives to companies and people who use these alternative forms of technology. SP also is a heavy producer of sugarcane, producing 18% worldwide. 50% is used for food and food products and the other half is used for fuels. The leftovers from the sugarcane are also used for biofuel and the production of ethanol. In terms of wind generation, SP currently has no sites however SP has 66% of the industry for that renewable energy. An interesting comment made by the commissioner was that he uses the U.S. as a warning for Brazil to no serve the path of fracking. Other than fracking, SP imports its natural gas from Bolivia.

Brazil has many goals for the coming years. These include to increase the amount of renewable energies, continue to expand the economy, create tax structures to make investments attractive and to adhere to the federal governments 5 year budget projection program.