According to the professor of University of São PaulO, within the domestic environment at least 50% of the consumption of electricity could be converted to natural gas.
Researchers from the Research Centre for Gas Innovation (RCGI) are currently appraising the potential for expansion of the use of natural gas in the city of São Paulo, in way that is associated with electricity, or which complements or replaces it. One of the projects of the RCGI, co-ordinated by Luís Antônio Bittar Venturi, a geographer and professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, Humanities and Languages (FFLCH) of the University of São Paulo (USP), is based on the assumption that at least 50% of the domestic consumption of electricity could easily be converted to natural gas, especially if we consider that the city has a satisfactory infrastructure for gas distribution.
“We defend the concept that electrical energy should be restricted to use in cases where it is absolutely essential: in domestic appliances, communication systems, and also in rail transport”, says Mr Venturi. In his appraisal, all the electricity that is used to generate heat is not rational, due to the fact that heat (and also refrigeration) could be generated by other cheaper means, such as natural gas. One example would be that of the electric shower which, even though it is indeed efficient (as nearly all the electricity gets converted into hot water), it is not rational, due to the fact that it uses a more prestigious form of energy for a simple task. “Energy efficiency and rationality of energy use are different concepts”, he says.
The study, whose first results shall be ready in two years, shall integrate census data of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and those of natural gas and electricity grids that exist in a test region (a census sector) through a Geographical Information System. In this stage, we shall look into the possibilities of conversion from one source to another. “We shall use one census sector as a cartographic base because there we have standardised data, such as the number of resident people per property, and are also georeferenced. Initially we have chosen an area covering approximately six blocks, close to Paulista Avenue, as a test area.”
Later on, the research team (which also includes two graduate students and one undergraduate student) shall also study more specific test areas: areas of industrial use, hospital areas (considered as special areas by the IBGE) and so forth. “In the end, we shall have examples of areas with different uses. The more representative of the whole they are, the more easily we shall be able to generalise the results for the city as a whole, applying them to the areas that have not been studied but which show some similarities with the test areas”, the geographer explains.
Map – The final product shall be a large synthesis map of the city, with appropriate legends, showing both the grading of the potential for expansion of use of gas, as also the behaviour of the different areas as considered, for each of the five analytical variables, namely: vulnerability (mainly related to faults in the supply of electrical energy); resilience (which is how long an area which has had a power outage takes to re-establish power supplies); technical and economic feasibility of the conversion; environmental sustainability; and rationality of the use of energy.
According to the geographer, apart from the domestic dimension, public transport would also benefit from the use of gas, as it brings less pollution, and is also cheaper, when compared to other fossil fuels. The study also takes into account the environmental gains resulting from the expansion of the use of natural gas in the city of São Paulo.