A team from the Fapesp Shell Research Center for Gas Innovation (RCGI) conducted a feasibility study on the replacement of diesel, fuel oil and electricity by Natural Gas, transported as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), in the state of Mato Grosso (MT).This LNG would be distributed on a small scale, according to the premise of the researchers who participated in the project coordinated by Professor Edmilson Moutinho dos Santos, from the Institute of Energy and Environment of the University of São Paulo (IEE / USP).

Applying methodologies of estimation of substitution potential and tools to calculate LNG transportation costs, the group identified how much this energy could be replaced by NG in three sectors of economic activity: agriculture, transportation and industrial.

"We conclude that there is a potential gas volume of 2.1 million m3 per day to replace diesel, oil and electricity in the economic sectors studied, and most of the potential replacement volume is in agricultural activity. Electricity and diesel are the most likely to be replaced, since the consumption of these sources is very relevant and the cost of LNG transportation has proved to be competitive. The substitution of fuel oil was less competitive, because the price and volume consumed in the state of Mato Grosso are lower than the other two energy sources evaluated, "said Dorival Santos Jr., one of the project's researchers.

The highest substitution rate was found for diesel oil in the agricultural sector (potential to absorb approximately 1.2 million m³ / day, which could be used, among others, in the grain drying process); followed by diesel in the transport sector (500 thousand m³ / day). The idea of the study, according to Santos, was to answer some questions, such as: how big this substitution, where it could occur and what its cost, which includes not only the purchase of gas, but also natural gas liquefaction processes , trucking, storage and regasification of LNG for consumption.

Small-scale natural gas is characterized by the capacity of the liquefaction and regasification plants. By small scale, it is understood a capacity that goes from 320 thousand m3 / day to 3.2 million m3 / day. (in trucks with capacity to carry from 30 to 60 m3). Dividing the state into five mesoregions, according to the official IBGE division, the scientists imagined a geocentric point in each of them, equidistant from the units that represent the main local economic activities and with access to highways. "We work as if all energy consumption were happening in those points, which is not real, but it is a strategy for a first estimation approach."

Brazilian granary - According to Santos, Mato Grosso was chosen because it has some peculiarities. It is the largest producer of soy, cotton, corn and beef in Brazil. GDP is the 13th among the federative units. And there is a gas pipeline of approximately 280 km, called the Lateral-Cuiabá Gas Pipeline, connecting Bolivia to the capital of the state of Cuiabá. "It is a branch of Gasbol, with a transportation capacity of approximately 4 million m³ / day, that leaves Bolivia and goes to the citygate of Cuiabá, where there is a Thermoelectric Plant - UTE Mário Covas, with a capacity of 400 MW.

Practically all the gas that arrives by this branch is destined to supply the thermoelectric plant, bought in 2015 by the J & F group and today in a state of hibernation, due to judicial complications.

The idea of the RCGI group is that natural gas arrives in Cuiabá via the gas pipeline, is liquefied right there in the citygate, and from there transported by road to the points chosen in the five large regions of the state. To be consumed, the gas must be regasified. "This regasification could occur both in the central points of the five mesoregions and directly in gas-consuming establishments," explains Santos.

In order to estimate the substitution potential of the use of NG in the MT state, the team analyzed the state energy balance released by the Planning Secretariat. "Today approximately 60% of the fuel consumed in MT is derived from oil, which is purchased from other producing states. The fact that the state has a significant border with Bolivia, a country with one of the largest gas reserves in South America, and already having a gas pipeline built up to its capital, represents a logistical advantage for the local increase in the consumption of natural gas . Recalling that, in addition to these logistical prerogatives, NG has environmental advantages over other fossil fuels, "says Santos.