Brazil is considering using gas plants for power generation
The search for solutions to generate cleaner energy will result in a 50% increase in the demand for natural gas in the world by 2040. This is the analysis of Thiago Barral, superintendent of projects of the Energy Research Company (EPE), an agency linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy. For Barral, Brazil should follow the same path of growth, since there is already a general consensus that energy transition here will also be made based on gas. The question, he says, is whether its use will be integrated with other renewable energy sources.
Barral spoke at the International Gas Union Research Conference 2017 (IGRC), which was held on May 24-26 in Rio de Janeiro. According to him, Brazil is already studying possible solutions to the energy transition using natural gas. Currently, the country’s electricity supply is primarily made through hydroelectric plants and natural gas is used only complementarily.
Apart from helping to increase the country’s energy supply, the use of gas is advantageous due to the low environmental impact. According to Professor Suzana Kahn, from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), gas will play a fundamental role in reducing the emission of carbon dioxide in energy generation. “The use of natural gas is a great opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions”, she said in a speech that addressed the environmental impact of using gas.
The director of the Brazilian Petroleum, Gas, and Biofuels Institute (IBP), Clarissa Lins, who mediated the discussion, stressed that the world is experiencing a transition to the low carbon era. And according to her, the “global climate agenda depends precisely on the kind of energy we are going to generate and from which sources.”
Other than the role of gas in the energy matrix and its impact on climate and the environment, IGRC also addressed new technologies and innovations for the gas industry. Engie’s chief technology officer, Raphael Schoentgen, spoke about what he calls “green gas”, produced from biomass, and the use of hydrogen in vehicles.
Panasonic’s Toshiki Shimizu has introduced a technology that is already being used in Japan and which uses gas for domestic generation of electric power and water heating. According to him, the initiative allows a reduction of up to 50% in the price paid for energy, with low impact to the environment.
Raquel Coutinho, from Petrobras, presented the challenges still faced by the gas industry, such as infrastructural bottlenecks, and the potential for gas production in Brazil, from the pre-salt production.
Considered the main international technical-scientific event of the natural gas industry, IGRC was held by IBP for the first time in Brazil, in partnership with the International Gas Union (IGU). The 2017 edition discussed the subject “Natural Gas: Catalyzing the Future”. For three days, the event addressed the strategic role of technology in the development of the gas market.
Over the three days, twelve oral and five plenary sessions were held, dealing with issues related to gas production and exploration, transportation, distribution, use of industrial gas, climate, environment, technology, and innovation, among others.