• 07 Nov 2016

Scientists at the Research Center for Gas Innovation (RCGI) are planning a “Roadmap” to assess the technological, economic and environmental factors that could influence the use of Natural Gas (NG) as marine fuel in Brazil.

The researchers will also evaluate the availability of NG from Brazilian reserves to project supply and demand for LNG as marine fuel in the coming decades.

With proven gas reserves of 500 billion cubic meters, Brazil ranks second in gas resources in Latin America, after Venezuela. Gas has grown 30% as a share of the Brazilian energy mix over the past six years; however, even so, a large proportion of the gas produced in Brazil is reinjected into oil reservoirs. This is the case even in the subsalt oilfields, where the amount of gas currently being injected is equivalent to a third of the total consumption in Brazil,” said Julio Meneghini, academic director of RCGI. “Brazil could stop importing NG from Bolivia and replace it with subsalt gas, if only we could solve issues such as purification, CO2 removal and distribution logistics.”

One of the main problems with subsalt NG is its high CO2 content, making it similar to biogas. The researchers at RCGI are working on different ways of purifying it and making its transportation and distribution economically feasible.

RCGI is a reaserach partnership between São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), BG Group-Shell, POLI-USP, the Energy & Envirnmente Institute (IEE-USP) and the Energy & Nuclear Research Institute (IPEN), which aims to be a world center for advanced studies on the sustainable use of NG, to increase NG’s share in the overall energy mix of São Paulo State and Brazil, and to contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.