Day 8

Day eight (Monday)
Today we visited the university of Paraná. We were able to meet with two different research groups at the university. The first group was the hydraulic research group. This group started its important studies six years ago in response to the lack of available energy to the region. Buy damning the Paraná river 5 separate hydraulic power plants are capable of providing the area with the energy they were looking for. Itaipu dam which is capable of producing 14 Jw of power, is one closely studied by the group. Their scaled down model of the dam helps them predict the velocity of the water through the dam along with the water levels. Readings are taken in the field and replicated in the model to study their effects. I thought it was interesting that this group didn't analyze any environmental impacts of the dam, but a completely different research group took on those tasks. We also got to see the beginning stages of a spill way design for a smaller dam. Issues with this design have prevented the group from completing it but it was interesting to see the work in progress.
The second group that we had the opportunity to meet with was the ethanol research group led by Dr. Jose Vargas. This group is studying the prospect of producing biodiesel from microalgea production. In the bio tech lab and cultivation room we saw the process of how they are producing biomass using only natural CO2 levels from the air. This process is more sustainable since excess co2 isn't needed. By testing different bacteria and species and studying how to control the growth of these species they are hoping to a be able to find the perfect material to produce the microalgea needed to make biodiesel at optimal levels. The process is slow and meticulous since they need to start small and slowly scale he production up. The existing biodiesel sources require vast amounts ( 846 times the existing cropping area for corn) of land in order to only produce 50% of the fuel needed for transportation in the US. With 30% oil in biomass using microalgea only 2.5 times the existing cropping area is needed.These figures were calculated using raceway ponds not implementing the latest technology (photo bio reactors)that could improve the numbers drastically (13 times more productive).
I was extremely impressed with both groups today and can't wait to see the progress they make in coming years.
Until tomorrow,
Jessica