At an event at RCGI, the rector of USP and the global president of Hyundai spoke about collaborations in strategic areas in the energy sector, focusing on sustainable and clean production.

by Julia Queiroz for the USP Journal – February 23, 2024

Hyundai President Euisun Chung and USP Rector Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior discussed strategic partnerships for clean energy production – Photo: Cecília Bastos/USP Images

On Thursday, February 22, the Rector of USP, Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior, and the coordinators of the Research Center for Innovation in Greenhouse Gas (RCGI) welcomed the President of the Hyundai Motor Group, Euisun Chung, to discuss potential partnerships and collaborations in strategic areas in the energy sector, focusing on sustainable and clean production. The meeting took place at RCGI, located at the Polytechnic School (Poli).

During the event, the USP Rector highlighted the management’s commitment to consolidating new partnerships. Carlotti also discussed the university’s interest in the nuclear energy field, emphasizing that the university already has ongoing projects. “As of 2021, USP began offering a degree in Nuclear Engineering here at Poli, with the aim of training more professionals in this strategic part of the world’s energy matrix,” he said.

The Hyundai President reiterated the company’s commitment to producing clean and less costly hydrogen energy. “We believe that a partnership between the private sector and the university will be able to combine technology, capital, and research necessary for advancing towards increasingly sustainable and clean energy production,” he stated.

Also present at the event were the Executive Director of RCGI, Julio Meneghini, who gave a presentation on the research conducted at the Center, and the Director of Poli, Reinaldo Giudici, along with other representatives from the South Korean company.

Green hydrogen

The RCGI (Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Innovation) has been in existence since 2014 as a Research Center in Engineering funded by Fapesp. Since 2023, it has been integrated as a study center linked to the Rector’s Office, complementing the university’s experiences in supporting research and development for the sustainable use of natural gas, biogas, hydrogen, management, transportation, storage, and use of CO2, with a focus on sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions mitigation.

One of the main research lines of the Center is related to using heat to convert ethanol into hydrogen. In the second semester of this year, the Armando de Salles Oliveira University City, in São Paulo, is expected to host the world’s first experimental renewable hydrogen refueling station from ethanol. The pilot plant will occupy an area of 425 square meters and will have the capacity to produce 4.5 kilograms of hydrogen per hour, enough to fuel up to three buses and a light vehicle.