Last night, a very respectable Ambassador, his country’s Permanent Representative to the UN, when our conversation turned to the UN Secretary-General’s interest in Climate Change, mentioned to me that Mr. Ban Ki-moon showed his interest by going to Brazil, and the Antarctica, before the Valencia and Bali events. I could not hold back, and I expressed my misgivings on the subject, as I have openly mentioned in the past on this website. But, from my angle, the above conversation showed me that I am really delinquent for not having done yet justice to information I gathered in my last trip to Brazil — November 17-24, 2007.

That Trip was related to two very interesting conferences/workshops that had the UN Secretary-General gone to these two meetings, rather then on his photo-stops he made, he could have indeed learned something that could have turned, what we called an ego-trip, to a rather a fact-finding learning experience - as he said.

The “1st Brazilian Workshop on Green Chemistry” in Fortaleza was organized by the Center for Alternative Energy and the Environment (CENEA), headed by Professor Jose Oswaldo Carioca of the Department of Engineering, The University of Ceara at Fortaleza. His organizing committee included scientists from many other institutions in Brazil, and the financial backing came from the Government of the State of Ceara and from organizations and businesses interested in alternate energy technology. Even the Brazilian oil industry - Petrobras - was here to help and participate. Speakers from Brazil and from outside Brazil - included Argentina, Germany, Israel, Italy, Turkey, USA.

The theme was set in the introductory presentation by Professor Carioca as Green Chemistry in the Context of Sustainability with focus on the Brazilian Economy and the Environment — Agribusiness and Green Chemistry.
He, himself a product of the Chemical Engineering Department of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, was then followed by a long list of presenter from the UFRJ that included Professor Emeritus, Dr. Martin Schmall, a child refugee from Nazi Germany, who eventually established at UFRJ the work on Green Chemistry and most of these presenters were his former students. Just think what Brazil has done in the area of Biofuels, now it will be a pioneer in a new generation of use of biomass inputs for replacement of petrochemicals in many non-fuel uses. For an example I will just pick the use of cashew-nut shells as primary material for many chemicals and chemical products.

Professor Antonio D’Avila presented results from his Green Tech Environmental Technology Laboratory that at UFRJ has now 200 patents and since 2005 is involved in a biodiesel plant — Agropalma.
Professor Adelaide Antunes mentioned the Brazilian start with the Proalcool program that introduced the ethanol fuels, but then moved to the Green Chemistry movement that now includes 12 countries.
Professor Peter Seidel saw in Sustainability a trade-off between Developed and Developing countries in a Brundtland Commission sense, and having moved in that direction at an early stage, he said that Brazil is now in an enviable position. He made reference to an article in Chemical Engineering News 85, of November 22, 2007, which I did not yet get to see, and to the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry that were established by the American Chemical Society. Today, Green Chemistry will be promoted under the CDM of the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC.

Professor Giuseppe Vasopollo from the University of Salento at Lecce, Italy, enlarged on the ecological foot-printing of a generation for Sustainability with Green Chemistry and Clean Chemistry as promoted now by Italy. They work on capturing CO2 with chemicals and work since 1993 by the Italian INCA consortium that involves now 30 universities and predated the ACS and IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) involvement. He pointed out that erosion is created by buildings, bridges, roads, dams, strip-burning, inadequate agricultural practices. He wants to see Green Chemistry and Sustainable Development being seen as one subject - something that was then picked up at the roundtable.

Professor Claudio Oller Nascimento, from the University of Sao Paulo works on photochemical treatment of wastewater on the Restoration of the Cubatao area that was one of the most polluted areas of the world.
Professor Schmal spoke of catalysis as a means to achieve Green Chemistry Products, work he did with the Max Haber Institute in Germany.

Professor Bernd Engels from Wuerzburg, Germany, presented Green Chemistry from a theoretical physicist’s point of view.

Professor Rita Hoyos spoke about work at Cordoba, Argentina, and Dr. Lucas Leite from EMBRAPA and Dr. Regis Lima Verde from CENEA, on enlarging Biomass Future Supplies as in turning biomass into carbohydrates that can be developed further. Tropical developing countries have more land availability and higher yields, but technology is in the north. They also complained of the higher subsidies in the north that work to the detriment of the marketability of the products of the south and to clear distortion also from an environmental point of view. The reality is that basically, the world production of biofuels is still centered only on Brazil and the US. Biofuels are starting in Europe but Europe is dependent on imports. The world use of biomass is 10.5% of energy use, but in Brazil it is 26.7%. Problems arise when there is no concern in the survival of the forests. The BIOREFINERY CONCEPT is when we produce food and fuel in the process using the biofuel feedstock.

Dr. Jennifer Young from the American Chemical Society Washington Headquarters, Green Chemistry Institute, presented the US summer school programs to students announcing the 2008 program in Colorado and a meeting June 24-26, 2008 in Washington DC. They are also promoting in US Congress a Green Chemistry Research and Development Act. There is already a Green Chemistry Initiative in California, and a Massachusetts Toxic Reduction Initiative. Michigan has an Executive Directive in place since June 2006. EPA still thinks in terms of voluntarism.

Dr. Alberto Oliveira Fontes Jr. presented the Petrobras interest in bio-ethanol and bio-diesel. They are building ships for exporting these materials.

Professor Carioca, Professor Vasapollo and Dr. Selma Mazes spoke of the production of Cardinal from cashew nuts and building a whole series of products from this first material.

Then Professor Ami Ben-Amotz from the Weizman Institute in Israel presented a very attractive new type of ocean-side-agriculture - the production of Bio-fuels from Algae. This topic has hit finally the National Geographic Magazine in the October 2007 issue. Professor Ben-Amotz is also director of a Japanese owned industrial plant in the sea of Eilat, that uses Dr. Ben-Amotz patents to manufacture food supplements produced by algae. His Dunaliella algae prosper in very salty water and they absorb CO2. Dr. Ben-Amotz was able to convince the management of a coal-fired power plant to open two holes in the exhaust chimney of the plant in order to channel some of the CO2 to his pond with algae and found that the system works. He does not say that this can solve all the problems with CO2 emissions, but it surely can become a way to capture some of this CO2 in a recycling scheme. From the algae he can produce bio-diesel.

Professor Adrian Pohlit from INPA in Manaus, Amazonia, followed by Professor Ney Pereira Jr, spoke of Biopharmaceuticals. and Professor Roberto Rossi from Cordoba spoke on Stanum organic compounds.
Professor Guilerme Maia of the Federal University of Para in Belem, spoke of Phytochemistry - vegetable oils and fatty acids. The idea is to provide a basis for regional development using the many kinds of nuts that are present in the Amazonas. his presentation links to the second conference/workshop I attended in Belem - but on this later.

Professor Vasif Harsici from The Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey spoke of biodegradable bio-polymers and Dr. Alberto Oliveira Fontes Jr. made a second presentation on uses of oils by Petrobras. They got involved in the oil production from nuts in the Amazonas region because it is not allowed to grow sugar cane in those areas. He mentioned that the production of plastic materials takes only 4% of the global use of petroleum.

Professor Eduardo Fallabella, also from Petrobras, spoke of the production of liquid fuels via gasification processes - a way that is well known and can be viewed as a future use of biomass.

Professor Horst Friedrich, from the German Aerospace Program, spoke on Motor Vehicles and their use of biofuels, and Professor Emilio La Rovere from UFRJ enlarged on biodiesel production including social aspects.

Professor Paulo Carvalho, from UFC in Fortaleza spoke on the production of dielectric oils for the needs of transformers - a clear success story that saves on mineral oils. He was followed by a presentation of Professor Luiz Horta Nogueira from Bello Horizonte, Minas Gerais, on Bioenergy trends in Brazil in general - talking of boilers and other uses.

Professor Rainer Jonas, of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig, Germany, spoke on polylactic acid, a biodegradable biopolymer.

Here I had the opportunity to speak on Sustainability in General - the title was “Global Sustainability” which I redirected to “Sustainability Requires Significantly Decreased Dependence on Fossil Fuels - and Nuclear Power Is Of No Help Either.” My statement started by saying that the “How” has been presented by the previous speakers and I intend to deal with the “Why” in order to strengthen their hands. I used my half hour in order to pick points that in term of policy did not seem to me to have been presented sharp enough in the two and a half days that went on prior to my talk.

I said that Climate is an energy issue - energy is an infrastructure issue thus climate is an infrastructure issue. We have to change the way we think about energy. I explained the balance between sunlight and earthlight that when disturbed by decreased capacity of energy being returned to space because of the Green-House Gasses Effect, we get global warming. But we get also global warming without CO2 emission when we bring out energy stored in the atom - in using nuclear power as an energy supply. Thus even without emitting cO2, nuclear power is sort of a fossil fuel as it releases energy to the atmosphere that was stored underground.

I explained the system of the Biorefinery concept as something that can commercialize corn by selling every component except the “squealing of the pig.” A bio-refinery is thus not a petroleum refinery that uses bioethanol and biodiesel - something that I seemed to have heard in one of the exchanges. Further, the valorization of the co-products decreases also the food versus fuel dilemma because, like in the case of soy-beans, the material left after the extraction of the oil for biodiesel, is a high protein valuable food supplement - that in many cases is just what is needed - so the fuel was obtained in a process that produced the food we wanted - and this negates much of the contrived food versus fuel issue.

I touched on the issue of peak oil and on the fact that renewable energy and alternate fuels are imperative. Thus the idea that Green Chemistry is tied to Sustainability is the way to go - further, we must incorporate also clean chemistry as part of the Green concept because aspects like creating energy systems that conserve energy or decrease the need for energy by increasing efficiency, are environmentally desirable or “green” even if not involving green plant matter. After all, even Professor Ami Ben-Amotz algae are not always green.

I managed also to include policy issues related to subsidization of agricultural commodity production by taking land out of production. Thus there is a potential here to make the connection between farm policy and energy policy while finding both the farmland and the money needed to create new fuel. This is specially important in highly subsidized French agriculture and the Polish agriculture in its integration with the EU. There were several further points, and I was gratified hearing some echo of what I said in the few remaining presentations.

Thus, Dr. Norbert Keutgen from the University of Bonn, Germany, Institute of Crop science and Resource Conservation (INRES) spoke about Photosynthesis and Bio-productivity on Bio-energy Yields, and Dr. Flavio do Couto Cavalcanti from OXITENO of Sao Paulo on Oil Chemistry. Their presentations included farm policy aspects.

Dr.Hamilton Moss from CEPEL, which is the Alternative Energy and Environment Center of Research into Electric Energy belonging to ElectroBras, and his partners from UFC/CENEA, Professors Carvalho and Filho, spoke on the obvious Alternative Electricity - all renewables. We were reminded of the fact that the State of Ceara has some excellent sites for wind-power. Obviously also a lot of sun.

Professor Nei Pereira from UFRJ spoke on Lignocellulosics Biorefinery Context and Professors Cesar Abreu and Henrique Baudel from the Federal University of Pernambuco at Recife, spoke on Chemical and Biofuels from Lignocellulosics.

Professor Claudio Mota from UFRJ spoke on New Products and Processes from Glycerol - A Renewable Feedstock for The Chemical Industry.

The Concluding remarks were that the concept of Green Chemicals is new in Brazil and the intent is to cooperate with ACS and IUPAC. The Brazilians are creating now RBQV which is the National Network for Green Chemistry with its headquarters in Fortaleza. They have already 9 Member States from Brazil, 31 Institutions with a total of 111 National Participants. They Will integrate the Chico Mendes Institute into the Network as there is a Social Aspect to all of this in Ceara over 50% of the population are below the poverty level.

The Second Conference/Workshop was held in Belem, State of Para, on the Amazon River.
There were two parts to this meeting:

On November 22, 2007, the topic was RESPONSIBLE TOURISM and the idea was to create a tourism industry based on lodging the tourists in small and private housing - not the building of environment-disturbing large hotels.
Tourism has to be an integrated, participatory, sustainable development activity - it must be community based. Two practical examples in the Belem region were being discussed. I was not at these meetings because I arrived only the following day.

On November 23, 2007, the topic was Fair Trade. What the presentations were dealing with is the development of commerce by the community - with justice and solidarity. The participants were from the region and from Brasilia. and it was being sponsored by a special new Ministry that created the Institute for sustainable and solidarity based Development of the Amazonia. Again, the idea here is to have small scale and community based production of things like the nuts that were talked about at the Fortaleza meeting. To allow such development in small scale but community based centers, this is the way to reduce poverty by creating employment locally. Now in our opinion this is what Sustainable Development is all about and it allows for the social down-pinning of the Green Chemistry economy that was the subject of the Fortaleza workshop. We think of these two meetings as a unit and we wish the UN were here to see the enthusiasm of the people involved.

 http://environment.independent.co.uk/cli…

This is from The Reporter for The Independent, Gideon Long, Directly From The Chilean Military Outpost, The Eduardo Frei Base, That Is A Bone Of Contention Between 2 or 3 Sovereign UN Member States, November 12, 2007.

As Said, in Order To Get There The UN Secretary-General Will Have Traveled 12,000 miles and No Word Yet If His Trip Was Covered With Emission Off-Sets.

“UN chief visits scientists in Antarctica for global warming fact-finding tour,” writes Gideon Long, but when we were there two years ago we visited baracks of the military that were decorated inside still with Photos of General Pinochet.

When Ban Ki-moon clambered out of a Chilean Air Force transport plane and planted his boots in the snows of Antarctica, he became the first head of the United Nations ever to visit the world’s icy underbelly.

A fleeting visit, perhaps, but one which underscores how rapidly global warming is rising up the political agenda. Mr Ban was on a fact-finding mission over the weekend ahead of a major United Nations conference on climate change in Bali next month.

At the Asia Society diner we wrote about, Mr. Ban was talking about an ECO-FACT-FINDING MISSION.

There, at Bali, the international community will try to work out what steps it can take to curb greenhouse emissions. A key deadline of the much-ignored Kyoto protocol is due to expire in 2012 and so far the world has yet to decide what comes next.

On Antarctica, scientists told Mr Ban of the changes they have witnessed on the continent’s peninsula, the finger of land that reaches out from the South Pole towards the southern tip of South America. “The temperature increase here over the last 50 years has been up to 10 times the global average,” said Gino Casassa, a Chilean expert and member of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

In early 2002, Larsen B, an ice shelf about 10 times the size of the Isle of Wight, peeled away from the continent and crashed into the sea. “Nobody believed that Larsen B … could collapse in a matter of weeks,” Mr Casassa said.

From the Chilean base Mr Ban hopped into a snowmobile and dropped in on his compatriots at South Korea’s King Sejong research station, where another retreating glacier is being monitored.

From Antarctica, Mr Ban flew over Grey’s Glacier in southern Chile, a wall of ice four miles wide, the façade of the which is riven with cracks that experts blame on global warming. Chile, which accounts for 0.2 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions, is home to three-quarters of all the glaciers in South America. It is also home to the world’s driest desert, the Atacama, which has been encroaching southwards as rainfall diminishes.

Mr Ban flew yesterday to Brazil, where he was due to see the effects of logging and burning on the Amazon rainforest.

The secretary general and his entourage will have clocked up about 17,000 air miles by the time they get back to New York.

———-

The Reuters Reporting by Juan Jose Lagorio From Eduardo Frei Base:

U.N.’s Ban says global warming is “an emergency.”

EDUARDO FREI BASE, Antarctica, Nov 10 (Reuters) - With prehistoric Antarctic ice sheets melting beneath his feet, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for urgent political action to tackle global warming.

The Antarctic Peninsula has warmed faster than anywhere else on Earth in the last 50 years, making the continent a fitting destination for Ban, who has made climate change a priority since he took office earlier this year.

“I need a political answer. This is an emergency and for emergency situations we need emergency action,” he said during Friday’s visit to three scientific bases on the barren continent, where temperatures are their highest in about 1,800 years.

Antarctica’s ice sheets are nearly 1.5 miles (2.5 km) thick on average — five times the height of the Taipei 101 tower, the world’s tallest building. But scientists say they are already showing signs of climate change.

Satellite images show the West Antarctic ice sheet is thinning and may even collapse in the future, causing sea levels to rise.

Amid occasional flurries of snow, Ban flew over melting ice fields in a light plane, where vast chunks of ice the size of six-story buildings could be seen floating off the coast after breaking away from ice shelves.

“All we’ve seen has been very impressive and beautiful, extraordinarily beautiful,” he told reporters. “But at the same time it’s disturbing. We’ve seen … the melting of glaciers.”

It was the first visit by a U.N. chief to Antarctica.

Ban is preparing for a U.N. climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December, which is expected to kick off talks on a new accord to curb carbon emissions after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

Ban has focused strongly on the environment and held a climate change summit at the United Nations on the eve of the annual General Assembly gathering of world leaders.

On Saturday, he is expected to continue his South American tour at Chilean national park Torres del Paine, where Andean glaciers are also being affected by global warming.

He will then visit Brazil, a leading force in developing biofuels from crops as an alternative to fossil fuels. Fears about climate change have fueled a boom in biofuels.

Despite the controversy of diverting food crops into fuel production, Ban has said alternative energy sources are vital to addressing climate change.

Antarctica — a continent with only about 80,000 temporary residents — is 25 percent bigger than Europe and its ice sheets hold some 90 percent of the fresh water on the Earth’s surface.

(( helen.popper at reuters.com; +54 911 4198 3488; Reuters Messaging: helen.popper.reuters.com@reuters.net))

nbsp;http://www.cenea.org.br/bwgc/index.php

1st Brazilian Workshop on Green Chemistry, Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil, November 18-21, 2007.

MAIN PURPOSES:

• To install officially the Brazilian Network on Green Chemistry;

• To increase the national and international level of knowledge, cooperation and participation of researchers’ centers and private companies, to develop Green Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, and Chemistry for Sustainability in Brazil.

• To generate technical subsidies for the establishment of government policies on Green Chemistry;

• To promote international exchange programs;

• To implement the Brazilian School on Green Chemistry to spread the sustainability concepts at graduate, post-graduate and technical courses for the industries;

Within this context the Brazilian Network proposes to be the institutional element to strengthen the national effort aiming to increase technological innovations at companies, research institutes and academia.

Honorary President: Senator Inácio Arruda
President: Prof. Francisco J. Pinheiro: Vice-Governor of the State of Ceara, BR
Scientific Comittee:
Prof. Dr. José Osvaldo Beserra Carioca - UFC - Chairman
Prof. Dr. Caetano Morais - UFRJ
Prof. Dr. Cláudio Oller - USP
Prof. Dr. Paulo Carvalho - UFC
Prof. Dr. João José Hiluy - UFC
Profa. Dra. Nájila Cabral - CEFET
Prof. Guilherme Corrêa (M.Sc.) - UFC
Profa. Dra. Selma Mazetto - UFC
Prof. Dr. Carlúcio Alves - UECE
Prof. Dr. César Abreu - UFPE

Green Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, or Chemistry for Sustainability is the concept that comprises the scientific and technological effort initiated at Environmental Protection Agency (EPA - United States) in 1991, which was addressed to the chemical industries and universities searching for the combination among technological advances and environment protection. Later in Venice, in 1998, there was a meeting involving national delegates, industries, and academia of about 22 countries. Following, a meeting was held in Paris in 1999 in order to identify areas for the development of Green Chemistry. All of this work resulted in decisions to implement efforts to promote the use of: renewable alternative feedstock’s; innocuous and less hazardous reagents; catalytic, biocatalyst and natural process; alternatives and safe solvents; design of safer chemical products based on molecular modeling; selective and easy separations processes aiming at minimal energy consumption.

Since then, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the “Consorzio Interuniversitario “La Chimica per l’Ambiente” (INCA), have promoted the publication of a book series and scientific meetings on Green Chemistry. In 2004, these two institutions published the 11th volume of that book series, entitled “Quimica Verde en Latino America” in order to promote the development of regional studies.

Within this context, the Brazilian Network on Green Chemistry is promoting the first Brazilian Workshop on Green Chemistry expecting to congregate our scientific and technological experiences in a book which will express our concern, awareness and actions to protect Nature, future generations and the tropical environment, which is, certainly the richest one in biodiversity in the planet. Finally, we welcome and sincerely thank our guest speakers, collaborators, colleagues and sponsors for joining us in this noble cause.

Prof. José O. B. Carioca
Chairman
Cenea - The Sustainable development passes this way
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PRESENTATIONS:

Biodiversity and Innovative Programs in Brazil
Dr. Luis Antonio B.de Castro - MCT
Brasília - Brazil

Cardanol Separation from CNSL: Problems and Perspectives
Prof. Dr. José Osvaldo Carioca - UFC/CENEA
Prof. Guilherme Corrêa; Rosa Abreu - UFC
Fortaleza - Brazil

Alternative Energy and Environment
Prof. Dr. Paulo Carvalho - UFC/CENEA
Prof. Dr. João Hiluy Filho - UFC/CENEA
and Dr. Hamilton Moss - CEPEL
Fortaleza - Brazil

Brazilian Network on Green Chemistry
Prof. Dr. José Osvaldo Carioca-UFC/CENEA
Fortaleza - Brazil
Prof. Dr. Caetano Moraes-UFRJ
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

Fine Chemicals from CNSL
Prof. Dr. G.Vasapollo and Giuseppe Méle
Lecce - Italy
Prof. Dr. Selma Mazzetto - UFC
Fortaleza - Brazil

Environmental Chemistry
Prof. Dr. Claudio Oller - USP
São Paulo - Brazil

GC - European Vision
Prof. Dr. Lasse Greiner
Aachen - Germany

Green Dielectric Oils
Prof. Dr. José Osvaldo Carioca - UFC/CENEA
Prof. Dr. Paulo Carvalho - UFC/CENEA
Prof. Guilherme Corrêa and Rosa Abreu - UFC
Fortaleza - Brazil

Global Sustainability
Prof. Pincas Jawetz
New York University - USA

Italian Vision on GC
Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Vasapollo
Lecce - Italy

Bio-products and Bio-fuels from Algae
Prof. Dr. Ben-Amotz - NIO
Haifa- Israel

Environmental Biotechnology
Prof. Dr. Rainer Jonas
HZI - Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Braunschweig - Germany

Brazilian School on GC
Prof. Dr. Peter Seidl,
Prof. Dr. Adelaide Antunes
Prof. Dr. Antonio D’ Ávila - EQ/UFRJ
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

Biopharmacos Synthesis
Prof. Dr. Adrian Pohlit - INPA
Manaus - Brazil

The Role of Photosynthesis and
Bio-productivity on Bio-energy Yields
Dr. Norbert Keutgen
Bonn - Germany

Environmental Catalysis
Prof. Dr. Martin Schmal - COPPE/UFRJ
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

R & D in Phytotherapics
Prof. Dr. Afrânio Craveiro - PADETEC/UFC
Fortaleza - Brazil

Oil Chemistry
Dr. Flavio do Couto Cavalcanti - OXITENO
São Paulo - Brazil

New Products and Processes from Glycerol
A Renewable Feedstock for the Chemical Industry
Prof. Dr. Claudio Mota - IQ/UFRJ
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

Ionic Liquids: Applications Potential
Prof. Dr. Jairton Dupont - UFRGS
Porto Alegre - Brazil

Newtrends for Chemical Industry
Dr. Fernando Galembeck - UNICAMP
São Paulo - Brazil
Prof. Dr. José Osvaldo Carioca - UFC/CENEA
Fortaleza - Brazil

Theoretical Chemistry
Developments on GC
Prof. Dr. Bernd Engels
Wuerzburg - Germany

Phytochemistry in Amazonia
Prof. Dr.Guilherme Maia - UFPA
Belém - Brazil

Bioenergy trends in Brazil
Prof. Dr. Luiz Horta Nogueira - UNIFEI
Belo Horizonte - Brazil

Argentine Program on GC
Prof. Dr. Rita Hoyos
Cordoba - Argentina

Bio-polymers
Dr. Vasif Harsici
Ankara - Turkey

Lignocellulosic: Biorefinary Context
Prof. Dr. Nei Pereira Jr. - UFRJ
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

Green Chemistry Program in United States
Dr. Jennifer Young
Washington D.C - USA.

Biofuels:International trends
and Petrobras Development Program
Dr. Alberto Oliveira Fontes Jr.
CENPES/Petrobras
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

Climates changing and Brazilian regions
Prof. Dr. Emilio La Rovère - COPPE/UFRJ
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

Amazonia Forest and Sustainability
Leonel Pereira - MMA
Brasília - Brazil

GTL, BTL and DME Alternative Fuels
Prof. Dr. Eduardo Falabella
CENPES/Petrobras
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

Chemical and Biofuels from Lignocellulosics
Prof. Dr.César Abreu and
Prof. Dr. Henrique Baudel - UFPE
Recife - Brazil

Biomass Future Based Supply
Dr. Lucas Leite - EMBRAPA/CNPAT
Dr. M. Regis Lima Verde - CENEA
Fortaleza - Brazil

Biofuels and alternative fuels in Europe
Status, Challenges and Technology Trends
Prof. Dr. Horst Friedrich -DLR
Stuttgart - Germany
Round Table
Coordinator
Dr. Obdulio Juan Fanti - ABIQUIM/SP

Round Table
Coordinator:
Prof. Dr. Peter Seidl ABQ/RJ

Round Table
Coordinator:
Dr. Marcelo M. Seckler - ABEQ/SP

Workshop Conclusions
Dr. Fernando Baratelli Jr. - CENPES/Petrobras
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

November, 18th; Sunday, 19.00 - 21.00 hours - Opening Section & Cocktail - Evening Program
SBC – Sociedade Brasileira de Catálise;ABQ – Associação Brasileira de Química; ABEQ – Associação Brasileira de Engenharia Química; IBAMA - Instituto Brasileiro de Meio Ambiente; ABIQUIM – Associação Brasileira da Indústria Química;ABIFINA – Associação Brasileira de Química Fina;INT – Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia.
Cenea - The Sustainable development passes this way

About Othon Palace Fortaleza:
Othon Palace Fortaleza is a brand new de luxe hotel. It is idealy located beach front, at Av. Beira Mar, fashionable area, surrounded by the best restaurants and night life, walking distance from the famous arts and handicrafts fair.
Fortaleza is a cosmopolitan city that offers many atractions for its visitors. Guests can appreciate the “Jangadas” small vessels used by local fishermen, while enjoying the warm and calm atmosphere.

Address

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Av. Beira Mar, 3470 - Meireles - Fortaleza
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011 800 737 68466 (011 800 RESOTHON)

Next week, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina for an official visit, and then to Santiago, Chile to attend the Ibero-American Summit, was announced October 30, 2007 at the UN.

Then, to help the secretary-general prepare for negotiations in December on a new international deal to tackle global warming, his spokesperson, Ms. Montas, said, that Mr. Ban will visit Chile, Antarctica, Brazil seemingly for pupose of climate change tourism, and end up eventually in Valencia, Spain, where scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will release a new report on Nov. 17.

As we know, the U.N. climate panel, that is the official IPCCC, shared this year’s Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore.

The IPCCC final report to be released in Valencia November 17, 2007, will set the stage for the annual U.N. climate conference on the Indonesian island of Bali in December that is tasked to start discussing a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCC to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which expires in 2012. Clinching a deal on new mandatory, deeper emissions reductions will likely take several years of intense and difficult negotiations and common knowledge is that if the negotiations do not get their start in Bali there will be no proposal ready for the 2009 meeting in Copenhagen - the target date for clenching an agreement that will make it possible to have actions prepared that can then kick in in 2012.

Montas said the secretary-general will visit Punta Arenas, Chile, “whose residents live with a hole in the ozone layer” and Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park, where glaciers have been affected by climate change. We have been to these places and this is great tourism that will also show the UNSG interest in furthering actions to slow down global warming and to provide for further steps on the ozone hole subject - after all seeing by yourself, and hearing complaints on location, will sharpen further his views on these subjects.

He will fly to Antarctica where he will be briefed by scientists at research stations, and then to Brazil where he plans to visit an ethanol plant and meet researchers and indigenous people living in the Amazon region, she said.

The secretary-general will wrap up his Latin American trip to the ABC countries of the LA cone, with an official visit to Brazil’s capital - Brasilia - and then fly to Valencia for the release of the report by the U.N. climate scientists, Montas said.

As we expect ourselves to be in Brazil starting November 17, 2007, we will be in good position to report then what the Brazilians, and the other Latin Americans of the South American Cone region, will say of the UNSG’s visit to their area.

————

The official announcement about the Valencia November 12-17, 2007 meeting:

Ban Ki-moon to attend IPCC press conference in Valencia on 17 November.

The Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, will participate
in a press conference to launch the Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change in Valencia, Spain, on 17 November, the last day of the
IPCC 27th Session.

The “Synthesis Report” is the final part of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report
titled “Climate Change 2007.” This report is the latest instalment in a series
of IPCC Assessments that have provided the most comprehensive scientific
evidence regarding the state of the Earth’s changing climate. This work has been
conducted by hundreds of scientists around the world since 1988, when the IPCC
was founded by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It led to the IPCC being jointly awarded
the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Mr. Al Gore for increasing knowledge on man-made
climate change and options to counteract such change.

Media opportunities for the IPCC 27th Session will be the Opening Ceremony on 12 November and the press conference on 17 November. Speakers at the Opening Ceremony will include Ms. Cristina Narbona, Spanish Minister of Environment; Mr. Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; Mr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the IPCC and representatives from WMO and UNEP.

TO THOSE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING AT THE MEDIA EVENTS - LET US WORN YOU THAT UNLESS YOU ARE BLESSED BY THE UN MEDIA ACCREDITATION OFFICE OF THE UN DPI IN NEW YORK - YOUR CHANCE TO GET IN IS ZERO - AND SOME FOLKS THERE MAKE IT THEIR BUSINESS TO WEED OUT SUCH MEDIA THAT IS SPECIFIC FOR TOPICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE. SO, IF YOU ARE REALLY INTERESTED IN THE SUBJECT, AND YOU MAY HAVE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE READING YOUR WEBSITE, YOU DO NOT QUALIFY UNLESS SOME COMMERCIAL MEDIA OUTLET HAS RECOGNIZED YOUR ACTIVITIES AND ASKED FOR YOU TO BE ACCREDITED AT THE UN.

Just to make sure we are not misunderstood - we believe the Valencia conclusive meeting is important, and the material that will be released will be brought to the attention of the media outlets by the European governments. We also believe that the EU and others will continue to promote the main ideas in the report - that global warming is man-made and that we will thus have to learn to live within the frame of an emissions’ budget; this until three years from now - the incoming US Administration will bring the US back to a leadership position in matters of global warming.

THE HOLLOW EARTH AND THE POLES by David Standish

History of Exploration Dinner Lecture presented by the Thoresen Foundation

We loved this invitation from the first moment we saw it - this after having been busy all day with the UN Security Council’s Open Debate on Energy, Security, and Climate. Considering that Climate Change involves the melting of the polar ice caps I found the ideas of officer Symmes quite engaging - the poles as entrance to new found inner lands - not bad at all - it beats looking for colonies in outer space! We hope the Explorers Club is going to serve drinks only after the lecture, rather than before it!

Thoresen Foundation Dinner Lecture on the History of Exploration

Date: Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Time:
6:00pm-9:30pm
Open to:
Members of The Explorers Club and their guests
Time Details:
6:00 PM Cocktails
7:00 PM Dinner
8:15 PM Lecture
Location:
The Explorers Club
46 East 70th Street
New York, NY 10021

Detailed Description:
In 1818 John Cleves Symmes, a former Army officer working as a trader in St. Louis, announced his belief to the world that the Earth is hollow, with habitable lands inside, which could be reached via vast openings at the Poles. These openings quickly came to be known as Symmes’ Holes. He tirelessly promoted this idea, even petitioning Congress to lead an expedition inside to claim for the United States the paradise he was certain would be found therein. His ideas tied the notion of a Hollow Earth to polar exploration, both North and South. Symmes also influenced Edgar Allan Poe, who based his only published novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (1838), the story of a ghastly voyage to the South Pole, on the hollow earth concept. A notion of Symmes’ Holes has carried down to the present, with some true believers today claiming that Admiral Byrd actually saw evidence of them during his expeditions, a “fact” covered up by a government conspiracy. David Standish, author of Hollow Earth, will discuss Symmes’ life and ideas, as well as their cultural impact, both in terms of polar exploration and their use in literature.
Reservation Notes:
Advanced reservations required.
Reservation Deadline:
April 18, 2007
Cancelation Deadline:
April 18, 2007
Contact Email:
 reservations at explorers.org
Member Ticket Price:
$60
Guest Ticket Price:
$65

International Clean-Energy Partnership Adds 20th Member: Vietnam.

The Methane to Markets Partnership marked a major milestone this week as Vietnam
became its 20th country member. Methane to Markets is a public-private
partnership that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by promoting the
cost-effective, near-term recovery and use of methane, while providing clean
energy to markets around the world.

Vietnam joins a growing number of Asian countries that are actively
participating in Methane to Markets. In particular, Vietnam will bring into the
Partnership its interest and experience in reducing methane emissions from
livestock waste.

The Methane to Markets Partnership brings together the technical and
market expertise, financing and technology necessary to advance methane recovery
and use projects in four sectors: agriculture, coal mines, landfills, and oil
and gas systems. Member countries work in collaboration with the private sector,
multilateral development banks, and other governmental and non-governmental
organizations through the partnership’s project network.

With the addition of Vietnam to Methane to Markets, the Partnership now includes
countries that represent nearly 60 percent of the world’s human-caused methane
emissions.

Methane is a greenhouse gas that is over twenty times more effective at trapping
heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. By 2015, Methane to Markets has the
potential to deliver annual reductions in methane emissions of up to 50 million
metric tons of carbon equivalent, which is roughly equal to the greenhouse gas
emissions from 50 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants.

More than 500 public- and private-sector organizations from around the world
have joined Methane to Markets through the Project Network.

In addition to Vietnam, Methane to Markets Partner countries include Argentina, Australia,
Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico,
Nigeria, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United
States.

Information on the Methane to Markets Partnership:
http://www.methanetomarkets.org 

Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego on French Fry Grease - it smells terrible but works and saves petroleum. And this is NOT an April Fool’s Day Story!

USHUAIA, Argentina, as per  Hilary Burke from Reuters - “Nine months after they set off from Alaska to spread the gospel of biofuels, Seth Warren and Tyler Bradt completed their journey on Sunday at the end of Highway 3, which dead-ends at the southern tip of South America.”

Along the way, the twenty-something buddies made hundreds of stops on two continents, to ask for people’s used frying oil and animal fat, which powered their truck.

The folks have been also in New York to show that it works, at an outdoor show ouside the Lincoln Center. Their tour, and the Australians’ proving that we can exist nicely with less light, were a set of two good examples this april 1st - of  some that are not your common fools. This is perhaps the start of grass-roots for a “SAVE THE PLANET AND US TOO” movement.

“What do people at the restaurants say when you ask them for the used oil? Do they think you’re crazy?” Osvaldo Colombero, a passerby, asked the men in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego National Park.

“No, they think it’s super funny,” Bradt responded, standing beside the small Japanese fire truck that covered about 21,000 miles (34,000 km) since July 2006.

The trip was part of the Oil and Water Project, created by Warren and Bradt to raise awareness of biofuels while taking them on a kayaking and surfing adventure through the Americas.

“People out in the world right now are starving for other sources of energy. With the (high) prices of petroleum, I’d say the economic benefits are astounding,” Warren said. “People need fuel for their lifestyles and this trip right here is just an example of how we fuel our lifestyle.”

The truck is packed with tanks to clean the waste vegetable oil or lard and turn it into fuel for its standard diesel engine. In Alaska, the duo ran the truck on fish oil. In Mexico and Central America, they used pig fat from the Chicharroneras — stands that serve fried bits of pork.

They fueled up with palm oil in Colombia and Ecuador and soy oil in Bolivia and Chile.

Along the way, they coordinated with US embassies to organize seminars for children and university students about their trip and the use of biofuels.

The idea is to find alternatives to burning fossil fuels, which release gases like carbon dioxide that are linked to global warming.

“We’re trying to set an example of maybe how Americans should behave and how our country should act, and how we as a nation should provide a role model for the rest of the world to use alternative fuels,” Bradt said.

The men performed cartwheels at the national park sign which reads: “Alaska 17,848 km.” Warren grabbed a towel and headed for the nearby bay, where he planned to skinny-dip.

“How do I feel being at the end of the world? Well, in all honesty, it feels like just the beginning,” he said.