Saturday, January 12, 2013

Gaberiel Azevedo, Odebrect Energia, offers an overview of hydropower development in Brazil.
By Kirsten Van Fossen '12 
Although I’ve been in São Paulo for 4 months now, my participation in the Poli-SEAS course has enabled me to experience a lot of Brazil firsts, especially yesterday, at the EMAE visit. We started out the day with a boat ride across a eutrophied water reservoir (Billings) and were able to get a view of the bordering informal settlement (favela). Later in the afternoon, I was able to go on my first Brazilian rollercoaster – the service trolley that parallels the 8 pipes that drop 700 meters to produce up to 960 MW of energy at the Henry Borden hydropower plant. Although the trolley didn’t quite get up to typical rollercoaster velocity, the 17 minute-long descent at times left us at a 43° angle and consequently, our stomachs turning. At the end of the day, we sat down to a meal with a few traditional Brazilian dishes, including a delicious maracujá mousse for dessert. I’ve often been encouraged to try this maracujá, but my love for chocolate has led me other directions. 

Kirsten graduated from Harvard in May 2012 with an SB in Engineering Sciences (Environmental) and is currently researching water engineering topics at the Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo.


 Play the video to experience the ride!