“Bring the University closer to public energy management in the State and contribute to the government so that São Paulo can make a more adequate and accelerated energy transition”. Luiz Carlos da Silva, professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing at the State University of Campinas (FEEC/Unicamp), is categorical in stating that the transition to renewable sources is one of the solutions to mitigate the impacts of climate change. It was from this debate that the São Paulo Center for Energy Transition Studies (CPTEn) was created, approved by the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Fapesp) in the Science Centers for Development (CCDs) program.
CPTEn will promote interdisciplinary research across eight thematic axes, bringing together engineers, economists, lawyers, educators, computer scientists, politicians, geologists and journalists. This action adds to the work that has been carried out since August 2017 at Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz, Unicamp's headquarters in Campinas.
“The project, which will last five years, was only possible because we already had a living laboratory, the campus from Unicamp, to study problems and solutions used in cities of the future. In the Living Laboratory of Energy Transition, Efficiency and Sustainability Sustainable Campus, it was possible to identify management problems in a real environment, where around 50 thousand people live daily and where there is its own electricity network, in addition to an urban mobility system. This environment serves as a space for experimentation”, highlights the professor, highlighting the possibility of transposing the initiatives outside the university environment.
According to the CPTEn coordinator, the Brazilian energy matrix is mostly renewable, but energy production is one of the factors with high environmental impact, given the enormous emissions of pollutants linked to the sector. Furthermore, the national scenario presents significant efficiency gaps.
“In the State of São Paulo, there are 30 thousand consumer units linked to state management in the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branches. Among them, we have 5 thousand public schools, hospitals and prisons”, he explains. It is these installations with different characteristics that CPTEn intends to study, seeking to reduce waste.
Brazil offers universal access to electricity, currently available to more than 99% of the population. But it is possible to improve it. “A portion of consumers have precarious access to it, especially in the Amazon region. One of the topics we intend to address at CPTEn are solutions based on renewable energy for these isolated communities”, explains the coordinator.
Planning also encompasses the training of professionals and users. “One problem we will tackle is in the area of education and training, the so-called “energy re-education”. People need to relearn how to live with energy, as waste contributes to the unsustainable situation we live in,” he explains. This is necessary, as the energy transition brings many changes in the technologies associated with the production, use and management of electrical energy.
Another issue to be explored in depth at CPTEn is energy contracting. “We hope to act so that public agents, large energy consumers, can migrate to the free market and thus buy cheaper energy, reducing the costs of services provided by the State, which will have an effect on the costs borne by society”, he explains. According to the researcher, this action aims to reach around 30 thousand consumer units in the State of São Paulo alone, and can also benefit public agents spread across the country. Organized into two groups, the Brazilian energy market is formed by the Regulated Contracting Environment (ACR) and the Free Contracting Environment (ACL). In ACL, there is competition between suppliers to serve large customers. Unicamp, for example, has been purchasing energy from ACL for almost two decades, saving around 10 million reais annually. In this environment, energy is cheaper, since contracts are long-term and there is competition between suppliers. This achieves a reduction of 20% to 30% compared to the ACR price. However, Unicamp is the only public university included in this negotiation.
Access to information
Another innovation that the Centro Paulista de Transição Energética (CPTEn) proposes is the Communication Plan (PaCom), stimulating a cultural change to promote sustainability. According to Barbara Teruel, professor at the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering (Feagri) and communication coordinator at CPTEn, access to scientific information is essential for people's participation in decision-making in a society. One of the main activities of this strategy is the production of content about ongoing research for a broad and specialized audience.
“The goal is to make the Center’s achievements accessible and make sense to different audiences, contributing not only to the development of different projects, but also to a cultural change that encourages innovation and sustainability”, ponders the coordinator. Furthermore, PaCom will contribute to the training of science communicators and disseminators.
Partnerships
CPTEn has a series of partners. Brazilian universities include: Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas, Federal Technological University of Paraná, Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of São Paulo — campus Advanced São Paulo, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” — fields Sorocaba and São João da Boa Vista, University of São Paulo, Federal University of Goiás and Renato Archer Information Technology Center. Among foreigners, the Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology and Delft University of Technology (TUDELFT), from the Netherlands. The companies Companhia Paulista de Força e Luz, Companhia Piratininga de Força e Luz, Companhia Jaguari de Energia, RGE Sul Distribuidora de Energia SA, Empresas Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras SA (Eletrobras) and Radaz Indústria e Comércio de Produtos Eletrônicos Ltda, as well as Secretariat of Infrastructure and Environment of the State of São Paulo also supports the Center.
Hugo Figueroa, professor at the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering (FEEC) and CPTEn partnership coordinator highlights the importance of partnerships for the proposal. “The interaction with these partner institutions allowed the elaboration of a work plan with a high degree of originality, harmonious, coherent and of a very high level of science and innovation, aligned with the market reality and aiming at effective solutions to society’s urgent problems. paulista on the issue of energy transition."
These companies maintain a history of collaboration with the various Unicamp research groups that make up the CPTEn team. The objective is to consolidate current partnerships and expand them, promoting the connection of this ecosystem with academia and industry.
Training
More than 165 people were involved in the development of the Paulista Energy Transition Center (CPTEn). Dulcineia Cruz, a graduate student at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FEM) at Unicamp, is a scholarship holder at the Sustainable Campus and participated in the creation of the Center. She highlights the importance of this journey and how much she has learned about renewable energy and energy efficiency.
“It was incredible to participate in CPTEn from its first steps. As an undergraduate student, working alongside people engaged with the energy transition has been very motivating. The dedication of the team was enormous”, he concludes.
