OREANDA-NEWS. December 03, 2015.FAPESP and BG Brasil, a BG Group company, announced today the creation of the Gas Innovation Research Centre (GIC), which will have its headquarters at University of Sao Paulo (USP).

The GIC will be a world-class centre for research on the current and future use of natural gas. The goal is to increase its participation in the energy system and demonstrate its role in helping mitigate emissions from greenhouse gases in the coming decades.

It will be based at USP’s Polytechnic School and will be coordinated by Julio Meneghini, a professor at Poli/USP and by Alexandre Breda, BG Group’s Environmental Project Manager. Poli/USP proposal was selected under the joint call of FAPESP and BG Brasil.

FAPESP will invest R\\$27 million and BG Brasil will invest R\\$30 million. USP will contribute to the project via institutional and administrative support to the researchers dedicated to the centre.

“The increase of the competitiveness of Sao Paulo State and BG Brasil in the global level is the main objective of the Gas Innovation Research Centre. The Centre will contribute to make the Brazilian energy system particularly in S?o Paulo, even more aligned with policies that provide substantial greenhouse gas emissions reductions”, said Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, scientific director of FAPESP.

“This initiative was developed in partnership with FAPESP to invest in innovation in order to better understand how we can use natural gas today and in the future. This is an important part of the legacy of BG Brasil to the Brazilian academia and industry, which is the first centre dedicated to the research and innovation of natural gas in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Nelson Silva CEO BG South America

Guided by three complementary lines of research: Engineering, Energy Physics-Chemistry and Policy and Economy – the c entre will investigate low carbon emission e nergy generation, the increasing use of natural gas as fuel for ships, the prevention of fugitive emissions of methane gas, advanced combustion of natural gas, use in fuel cells, the conversion of natural gas into raw materials for the chemical industry, and the development of a natural gas supply chain for remote areas, among others.

“Our lines of research will be focused on the use of gas for transportation and other types of utilization , as well as the finding of new raw materials derived from it”, tells Meneghini. “Projects can, for example, specifically investigate natural gas reform processes for producing hydrogen or developing fuel cells with high energy efficiency and very low CO2 emissions”, he added.

The research will be conducted in partnership between researchers in Poli, Energy and Environment Institute (IEE) and Chemistry (IQ) of S?o Carlos, and Law School, all from USP, and from the Energy and Nuclear Research Institute (IPEN) and BG Brasil’s engineers.

GIC will also interact with the Sustainable Gas Institute (SGI), a partnership between BG Group and Imperial College London. This will include a researcher and student exchange programme, the sharing of information and research results, as well as participation in joint seminars, conferences and workshops.

“We look forward to seeing this Centre contribute to the development of new technologies to increase gas utilization and improve energy efficiency. Natural gas is the cleanest burning of the hydrocarbon fuels and we believe that it can play an important role in the Brazilian energy system. Congratulations to USP and to Professor J?lio for the winning proposal,” adds Adam Hillier, BG Group’s Chief Technology Officer.

The GIC creation complements FAPESP’s initiatives in supporting research in the fields of Energy and Environment: the FAPESP Bioenergy Research Program (BIOEN), FAPESP Research Program in the Characterization, Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use of S?o Paulo State Biodiversity (BIOTA) and FAPESP Research Program on Global Climate Change.