The National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) will support the development of a technology to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases from power plants. The innovative process, already proven in the laboratory, will allow the breaking of exhaust gases at thermal plants and will be tested on an industrial scale with the installation of a device in fireplace (gas of the purge site) of fuel of Companhia Siderúrgica do Atlântico (CSA) , in Rio de Janeiro.

BNDES funds, R $ 8.2 million, approved under the Technology Fund (BNDES Funtec) in non-reimbursable modality, will be managed by the Development Foundation of the State University of Campinas (Funcamp), linked to the University of Campinas (Unicamp ), responsible for the project's technical execution. The project will also count with resources (about 14% of the total to be financed) from ThyssenKrupp Companhia Siderúrgica do Atlântico, and will have the participation of Microondas Desenvolvimento de Tecnologias de Energia e Meio Ambiente (Innovatus), incubator company of Unicamp.

The project includes the installation, in the chimney, of a device made of a ceramic with special properties, able to break down the pollutant gas molecules, separating them into inert elements, through the microwaving until around 1500 ° C. this process eliminates the production of gases that cause the greenhouse effect, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. The gas molecules are broken after staying for two seconds in the superheated ceramic.

Support for the project reiterates the priority of sustainable development for the BNDES. The new technology is an alternative to solve effectively the emission of greenhouse gases in power plants and, if confirmed its effectiveness, can be replicated and adapted to power plants around the country.