Cities Sharing Clean Energy Best Practices in Brazil

It may be rainy and slightly chilly (for Brazilian standards), but the elements couldn't keep away approximately 100 local officials, students, and university representatives from the ICLEI Latin American and Caribbean Secretariat (LACS)'s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in Brazilian Cities seminar taking place today and tomorrow in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The seminar brings together local governments and clean energy experts to share best practices and cutting edge technologies that local governments in Brazil and around the world can employ to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and develop more sustainably.

The morning kicked off with a welcome from the Deputy Mayor and Municipal Secretary for the Environment of Porto Alegre, Jose Fortunati and Professor Garcia. The two graciously welcomed participants to their glorious city and provided a brief introduction to some of the great work happening in Porto Alegre, including the newly launched Porto Alegre Reference Center on Renewable Energy (being launched this evening). The Center, which will provide renewable energy information to citizens around the region, is part of an ICLEI project between cities in Brazil, India, and Europe known as the Local Renewables Model Communities Network.

The rest of the day was filled with presentations setting the stage for why and how renewable energy and energy efficiency are and will continue to be critical to tackling the climate change problem. Participants got to learn about solar development in the City of Sao Paulo, Brazil and energy efficiency developments in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Tomorrow, day two of the seminar, will go into more detail around methodologies for using urban waste as an energy source and methodologies for capturing landfill gas. It is during this part of the program that ICLEI LACS will launch its draft "Landfill Use Implementation Guide for Municipalities." The Guide is part of a Methane to Markets program, sponsored by the U.S. EPA, which ICLEI LACS and ICLEI USA have been collaborating on. During the launch of the Guide, ICLEI USA staff will be present to share solid waste management best practices from around the U.S.

To learn more about solid waste best practices in the United States and how your local government can enhance your solid waste collection efforts, please see ICLEI's Recycling and Solid Waste Guide. And coming soon, ICLEI LACS's Landfill Use Implementation Guide for Municipalities (in Portuguese).