diff --git a/config/environment.rb b/config/environment.rb
index a1ac61d..a17dcfd 100644
--- a/config/environment.rb
+++ b/config/environment.rb
@@ -91,6 +91,9 @@ Tag.hierarchical = true
 # several local libraries
 require 'noosfero'
 
+# sqlite extensions to able to test/develop georeference with sqlite
+require 'sqlite_extension'
+
 # locally-developed modules
 require 'acts_as_filesystem'
 require 'acts_as_searchable'
diff --git a/lib/sqlite_extension.rb b/lib/sqlite_extension.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5e746c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/sqlite_extension.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+if ActiveRecord::Base.connection.adapter_name =~ /^sqlite$/i
+
+  database = ActiveRecord::Base.connection.raw_connection
+
+  database.create_function('sin', 1, :numeric) do |func, value|
+    func.set_result(Math.sin(value))
+  end
+
+  database.create_function('cos', 1, :numeric) do |func, value|
+    func.set_result(Math.cos(value))
+  end
+
+  database.create_function('pow', 2, :numeric) do |func, base, exponent|
+    func.set_result(base.to_f ** exponent.to_f)
+  end
+
+end
diff --git a/test/unit/sqlite_extension_test.rb b/test/unit/sqlite_extension_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d481331
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/sqlite_extension_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../test_helper'
+
+# if this test is run without SQLite (e.g. with mysql or postgres), the tests
+# will just pass. The idea is to test our local extensions to SQLite.
+class SQliteExtensionTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+
+  should 'have sine function' do
+    assert_in_delta 0.0, ActiveRecord::Base.connection.execute('select sin(3.14159265358979) as sin').first['sin'], 0.0001
+  end
+
+  should 'have cosine function' do
+    assert_in_delta -1.0, ActiveRecord::Base.connection.execute('select cos(3.14159265358979) as cos').first['cos'], 0.0001
+  end
+
+  should 'have power function' do
+    assert_in_delta 8.0, ActiveRecord::Base.connection.execute('select pow(2.0, 3.0) as result').first['result'], 0.0001
+  end
+
+end
--
libgit2 0.21.2