New Energy Innovation Center (CINE)
The New Energy Innovation Center (CINE) was launched by FAPESP, Shell Brazil, the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), the University of São Paulo (USP) and the Energy & Nuclear Research Institute (IPEN) on May 23, 2018.
A total of BRL 110 million will be invested in CINE over a five-year period under the aegis of FAPESP’s Engineering Research Center Program to fund the development of new energy storage devices with zero or close-to-zero greenhouse gas emissions using renewable fuels and novel technological routes to convert methane into chemicals, among other goals.
Shell will invest up to BRL 34.7 million all told in the new center, while FAPESP has budgeted an investment of BRL 23.14 million. UNICAMP, USP and IPEN will contribute BRL 53 million as counterpart funding for researcher and support staff salaries, infrastructure and facilities.
CINE will have four research divisions, hosted by UNICAMP (Advanced Energy Storage, and Dense Energy Carriers), USP (Computational Material Science & Chemistry), and IPEN (Sustainable Route for Conversion of Methane with Advanced Chemical Technologies). It will develop a total of 20 projects.
The Center’s mission is to produce knowledge at the research frontier, and in parallel to transfer technology to the business sector. Its research results may be used by Shell to establish startups or enter into partnerships with other companies.
CINE was set up following a call for proposals issued by FAPESP in partnership with Shell in April 2017. The selection process was completed in early 2018 with the approval of proposals submitted by Rubens Maciel Filho, a researcher at UNICAMP’s School of Chemical Engineering, Ana Flávia Nogueira, affiliated with UNICAMP’s Chemistry Institute, IPEN’s Fábio Coral Fonseca, and Juarez Lopes Ferreira da Silva, a researcher at USP’s São Carlos Chemistry Institute.
