The Perspectives of Biomethane to Contribute to Increase the Natural Gas Supply in the State of São Paulo

The Intended Nationally Determined Contribution from Brazil presented in COP 21, ratified in 2016 by the Brazilian Congress, establishes goals regarding reduction of carbon emissions and increasing the share of biofuels by 2030. In this scenario, biogas and biomethane are suitable renewable fuels to meet such goals. Thus, the Bioenergy Research Group of the Institute of Energy and Environment at the University of São Paulo (GBIO/IEE/USP) developed "Project 27 - The biomethane contribution prospects to increase the supply of NG in São Paulo" - within the Research Center for Gas Innovation (RCGI/FAPESP/SHELL/USP). Project 27’s objective is to map the production of biogas and biomethane in the state of São Paulo, where the most promising biogas potential in Brazil resides. In view of the above, this article aims to present the results obtained for biogas and biomethane potentials so far, to compare it to other estimates and to study the incentives for these biofuels in São Paulo. The results obtained diverge from other studies' estimates for biogas and biomethane in the state of São Paulo. Nonetheless, they show that the biogas and biomethane potential is São Paulo is largely underused. However, the state already has a number of policies and regulations aiming towards introducing biogas and biomethane to the energy matrix.
Proceedings of the 26th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 14-17 May 2018, Copenhagen, Denmark, pp. 1503-1511