Submission Details
Submission ID
45
Submitted by
Dr. José Goldemberg
Category
Lifetime Achievement (for an
Individual) Sectors
Energy Efficiency
Biofuels
Biomass
CO2 Reduction
Green Buildings
Other: sustainability of biomass
Activities
Energy Policy &
Regulation Research &
Development Education &
Public Awareness
Executive summary
1. Please provide an introduction to the candidate and his/her renewable energy,
clean tech and sustainability activities, including a brief history of their involvement
in the sector, as well as major roles and responsibilities.
Prof. Goldemberg work is characterized by a long-term view of sustainable development
expressed clearly in the book Energy for a Sustainable World published in 1986 by Wiley &
Eastern Limited (India); co-authored with Amulya Reddy, Thomas Johansson and Robert
Williams. This book preceded the publication, in 1987, of the Brundtland Report and was
influential in training generations of energy analysts on the solutions to the energy problems of
the 20th century through a combination of centralized and decentralized solutions for the
developed and developing world.
Instrumental for that is the concept of technological leapfrogging for developing countries, which
basically states that developing countries do not have to retrace all the steps followed in the past
by today’s industrialized countries as their economies grow. They can leapfrog some steps and
incorporate, early, in their process of development currently available, modern, nonpolluting and
efficient technologies. The adoption of ethanol from sugarcane a renewable fuel as a
replacement for gasoline in Brazil is a prime example of such strategy. There are many other
examples of the applicability of technological leapfrogging concept and they’ve been the object of
a recent paper Professor Goldemberg in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs winterspring edition/2011
Impact - 35%
2.
Describe the candidate’s top achievements in renewable energy, clean tech
and sustainability. Outline their individual contribution and the subsequent impacts or
outcomes.
The main achievement Prof. Goldemberg’s work on promoting renewable and sustainable
energy solutions has been his strong technical support of the use of ethanol produced from
sugarcane in Brazil as a replacement for gasoline. His early work in 1977, published in 1978
(reference: Energy Balance for Ethyl Alcohol Production from Crops Silva J. G., Serra G. E.,
Moreira J. R., Golalves J. C. and Goldemberg J., Science Vol. 201.: pp. 903-906, 1978)
established the fact that ethanol from sugarcane is basically a renewable energy resource except
for the minor inputs of fossil fuel derived products such as fertilizers used in its production. Until
then the Ethanol Program was difficult to justify on purely economic grounds. His work clarified
the environmental advantages of the use of sugarcane over other raw feedstocks such as
cassava or corn and helped to keep the Program in course. The technical support of Prof.
Goldemberg to the ethanol program and its significance in promoting renewable energy use
opened the way to what is now a very large industry in the United States and Brazil whose
production replaces today 2% of the gasoline used in the world - a percentage that could reach
10% in 2020, and generated on million jobs.
3.
Give an indication of the scale of impact the candidate directly influenced.
Provide tangible, quantitative figures where possible that are directly
attributable to the candidate’s work.
The ethanol program in Brazil is the largest program of renewable energy in the world. It replaces
50% of the gasoline (a fossil fuel) that would otherwise be in use in Brazil and reduces by 15%
the carbon emissions of the country (excluding the deforestation in Amazonia). There are, in the
country, 442 distilleries of ethanol in the country and the area used for ethanol production is
approximately 5 million hectares.
Leadership - 35%
4.
If the candidate has been involved in a senior capacity at a company, NGO,
institution or other organisation dedicated to renewable energy, clean tech or
sustainability, please describe the organisation’s activities and achievements during
the candidate’s tenure, as well as their specific role within it.
Professor Goldemberg has been a professor of the University of Sao Paulo all of his
professional life. This University is the most prestigious of Brazil and gave to Professor
Goldemberg visibility and scientific authority to support initiatives in the area of sustainable
development.
5. Other than the achievements mentioned above, how has the candidate worked to
raise awareness and spread knowledge across the industry and wider world?
Discuss involvement in major industry associations; agenda setting for the
industry; policy development and other areas of leadership.
As a former Rector of the University of Sao Paulo and former Minister of Science and
Technology Prof. Goldemberg was very active in policy debates at the national and international
level arguing and promoting the wider use of renewable energies in general. That was
particularly important in the Climate Convention adopted in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) since
he was at the time Minister for the Environment of the Federal Government.
At the Johannesburg 2002 World Summit on Energy for Sustainable Development (WSSD), he
prepared a proposal entitled the Brazilian Energy Initiative, endorsed by the Brazilian
Government and all Latin American countries, which was the first policy statement proposing the
achievement of a global target of 10%, by 2010, energy from new renewable sources. In the
Conference for the first time the importance of energy (particularly renewables) and its
connection to the eradication
of poverty was clearly established. The proposal was taken to the Johannesburg 2002 World
Summit on Sustainable Development and received strong support of over 70 countries,
including the European Union countries.
6. Has the candidate been widely recognised as a leader in their field? Please
give supporting evidence.
The Volvo Environmental Prize 2000 was recognition of the work to the authors the book
Energy for a Sustainable World published in 1986 by Wiley & Eastern Limited, India; coauthored with Amulya K. N. Reddy, Thomas B. Johansson and Robert H. Williams.
Also, Time Magazine honored Prof. Goldemberg in 2007 as a Hero of the Environment
(http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1663317_1672378,00.html).
The role played in the preparation for the 1992 Rio Earth Summit; Prof. Goldemberg
was laureated with the Blue Planet Prize 2008, from the Asahi Glass Foundation
(http://www.af-info.or.jp/en/blueplanet/list.html).
Long Term Vision - 15%
7. How has the candidate been able to ensure the continuity of initiatives that they
were involved in? Explain how any efforts have been successfully adopted at scale or
how they will continue to be relevant to the future renewable energy, clean tech and
sustainability industry.
As Secretary for the Environment of Sao Paulo State (2002-2007), Prof. Goldemberg set up and
enforced legislation to introduce mechanical harvesting of green sugarcane, phasing-out the burn
of sugarcane as well as a complete agronomical-ecological zoning for the state of Sao Paulo.
His present work at the University of Sao Paulo is centered on sustainability aspects of biofuel
in general, food versus fuel problems, social aspects and deforestation problems.
8. What is the candidate’s vision for the future evolution of energy? What current
and future activities are they undertaking to further this vision, and what obstacles will
need to be overcome?
The future evolution of energy is clearly an increase in the use of renewable energies to replace
ultimately the use of fossil fuels which are the main source of present environmental problems.
This has to be made in an orderly fashion that involves first an improvement in the efficiency of
energy use coupled with a leapfrogging approach to be adopted by developing countries as they
grow and develop.
Innovation - 15%
9.
Has
the
candidate
contributed
to
the
successful
development
or
implementation of significant innovative product(s), solution(s) or initiative(s) in
the sector? What was the innovation and what are its benefits?
a. What was the candidate's specific contribution?
b. How unique is the innovation in question?
c. What is the scale of applicability of the innovation(s), or the addressable market size?
a) What was the innovation and what are its benefits? To conduct the first life cycle analysis of
ethanol production from agricultural products
b) What was the candidate’s specific contribution? to legitimize sugarcane as the best choice
for the production of ethanol.
c) How unique is the innovation in question? The uniqueness of the innovation (use of sugarcane
for the production of ethanol instead of other feedstocks) can be ganged by the fact that such
solution of CO2 emissions in contrast to the use of other feedstocks such as corn in the United
States where such reductions are marginal
d) What is the scale of applicability of the innovation(s), or the addressable market size?
Present production of bioethanol from sugarcane presently (27 billion liters per year) will have to
increase by a factor of 5 at least to meet the bioethanol mandates adopted by many countries.
The ethanol program in Brazil can be replicated in other tropical country in Central America and
Sub-Sahel Africa and this is indeed happening.
10. Have the innovation(s) had a significant impact to date?
The ethanol program in Brazil is the largest program of renewable energy in the world. It replaces
50% of the gasoline (a fossil fuel) that would otherwise be in use in Brazil and reduces by 15%
the carbon emissions of the country (excluding the deforestation in Amazonia). There are, in the
country, 442 distilleries of ethanol in the country and the area used for ethanol production is
approximately 5 million hectares.