ASU Energy Center Team Investigates Waste to Energy, Sustainable Development Projects in Brazil

A team of four ASU employees just returned from Brazil as part of a project funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The purpose of the grant is to assist the residents of Ceará, Brazil to investigate the potential of capturing methane gas from landfills to meet local energy needs and stimulate local economies. The ASU team includes, from left to right, Patricia Cornette from the ASU Office of Research and Sponsored Programs in the Graduate School, ASU Biofuels Program Manager Jeremy Ferrell, Dr. Jeff Ramsdell from the ASU Technology Department and Stan Steury, landfill gas program manager from the ASU Energy Center.

If the ASU Energy Center has its way, the residents of Ceará, a state in northeastern Brazil, will soon be creating jobs for some of its poorest residents while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and capturing wasted energy. A team of four ASU employees just returned from Brazil as part of a project funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The purpose of the grant is to assist the residents of Ceará to investigate the potential of capturing methane gas from landfills to meet local energy needs and stimulate local economies. This trip is part of a growing effort by ASU to exchange technology and programs with universities, federal and state government agencies, and non-government organizations (NGOs) in Brazil.

The diverse team sponsored by the ASU Energy Center for this recent trip included engineer Dr. Jeff Ramsdell from the Technology Department, Patricia Cornette from the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs in the Graduate School, Biofuels Program Manager Jeremy Ferrell and Stan Steury, landfill gas program manager from the ASU Energy Center.

The team had a good combination of backgrounds for the trip. For instance, Cornette, a native of Brazil with a background in law and the environment, was critical to the success of the trip because of her fluent Portuguese and knowledge of Brazilian culture. Ferrell, in addition to a background in biofuels and renewable energy, speaks Portuguese and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay. Ferrell also received a Fulbright Fellowship attending a biofuels short-course in Sao Paulo earlier this summer. Ramsdell has been to Brazil previously building relationships with Brazilian universities, especially in biofuels education. Steury recently retired from a 32-year career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture where he developed a specialty in landfill gas, and was then hired by the ASU Energy Center.

According to Dr. John Pine, director of the Appalachian Research Institute for Environment, Energy, and Economics—of which the ASU Energy Center is a part—this project is an example of how the ASU Energy Center can have a global impact.

“The team saw first hand how technological innovation is linked to a different environment, economy and culture. This is a great opportunity for ASU to broaden its perspective on not only the technology but also energy public policy issues” said Pine.

During their trip, the ASU team toured seven landfills in Ceará, a state with similar size and population to North Carolina. What they saw was a solid waste system in transition similar in many ways to what the American solid waste industry went through during the last two to three decades. New landfills are being designed and built, while open dumps are being closed as the state begins implementing recycling programs. Landfill gas projects are rare in Brazil—only three operate nationwide—and non-existent in Ceará. In contrast, there are 450 operating projects in America.

“We can’t really do much to make landfill gas actually happen without strong participation in Ceará,” Ramsdell said. “But if we can empower the local people with information and inspire them, there is good potential for progress. Our trip was an incredible experience. We wouldn’t have been successful without strong cooperation from political, educational and nonprofit institutions and individuals there. I hope that we can continue to capitalize on these talented people.”

From the list of seven landfills they visited, the team will select two for which they will prepare a feasibility study with the help of American and Brazilian consultants.

The emphasis of the ASU Landfill Gas project in Brazil is not just about renewable energy.

“It became obvious to us as we were researching for our grant that there are a lot of poor people who depend on the landfills for a living,” said Steury. “We hope that our project can help these people improve the quality of their lives in some way. It is a cultural shock to see many people digging through the garbage on the landfill to sort our recyclable material and other things that they can salvage for their own use.”

Ceará is one of the poorest states in Brazil. According to one social worker who met with the ASU team, more than 50 percent of the Ceará population lives on less than $230 per month for a family of four. Fifty percent of those families live on less than $140 per month. The area is in a semi-arid region, hot and dry for nearly eight months of the year. The major city of Ceará is Fortaleza, a city of three million people on the Atlantic Coast. Fortaleza has a strong tourism industry, but there are many poor in the city as well.

For more information, contact Jeff Ramsdell at ramsdellje@appstate.edu or Stan Steury at steurysw@appstate.edu.