Shell and Unicamp enter into an innovative partnership to produce energy from Agave

Technologies will be developed that will provide the basis for a new industrial chain in the country, based on cultivars adapted to the semi-arid climate present in the Brazilian Sertão

10.11.2022 | 17:54 (UTC -3)
Raquel Pedroza

Shell Brazil formalized a partnership with the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) for the development of Agave (a typical cultivar from the Brazilian Sertão) as a new source of productive, efficient and competitive biomass, capable of capturing and storing large amounts of carbon. The program, entitled BRAVE (Brazilian Agave Development), was launched during a ceremony at the Unicamp Genomics and Bioenergy Laboratory, in Campinas (SP). With an investment of around R$30 million, the project is financed by Shell, using resources from the Research, Development and Innovation clause of the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP).

Through the program, technologies will be developed that will provide the basis for a new industrial chain in the country, based on a cultivar adapted to the semi-arid climate present in the Brazilian Sertão and whose productive potential is similar to that found in sugar cane cultivated in other regions of the country. Brazil. The development of BRAVE includes biological solutions to improve the productivity, adaptability and resistance of Agave, as well as the creation, for the first time in the world, of equipment for planting and harvesting this cultivar. Finally, the partnership envisages the construction of pilot biomass processing and refining plants to be installed in Bahia, converting Agave into biofuels and several other renewable products, such as first and second generation ethanol and biogas.

“We want to help create technology for a new concept of bioenergy production in the country, which can enable the emergence of a new industrial chain, placing the Brazilian Sertão as a potential hub for producing biofuels for the world, at the same time that we help to develop a one of the areas of greatest socioeconomic vulnerability in Brazil”, comments Alexandre Breda, Low Carbon Technology manager at Shell Brasil.

Expected to last 5 years, the program is aligned with Shell's global strategy, which has as its central pillars achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, respecting nature, boosting lives and generating value for shareholders. Currently, Shell Brazil invests around R$600 million in Research & Development projects in the country, with 30% of this amount allocated to initiatives for the energy transition, as in the case of BRAVE.

“BRAVE is a biorevolution for the hinterland: development of a value chain based on highly productive plants in a semi-arid zone, which will become even more common with climate change”, observes Gonçalo Pereira, coordinator of the Genomics and Bioenergy Laboratory from Unicamp.

The initiative is part of the portfolio of Low Carbon Technologies projects at Shell Brasil, under the management of Alexandre Breda, and with Marcelo Medeiros coordinating the activities. The Prof. Dr. Gonçalo Pereira is the technical coordinator of BRAVE, with the participation of nine other researchers and more than 50 scholarship students and technicians from Unicamp, as well as partners from other academic institutions.

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