News and Opportunities
Renewable energy collaboration between Australia and Brazil
06 May 2013
A visit to Brazil by Council on Australia Latin America Relations (COALAR) board member Tim McLennan has identified collaborative opportunities with the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in the field of renewable energy.
Specifically, closer links with the International Energy Centre were identified. In the short term, Mr McLennan will focus on identifying Australian speakers to be invited by UNICAMP to attend a conference on bioenergy in Sao Paulo in 2014 and also follow up with a number of Brazilian researchers identified during the meeting, who are residing in Australia, to develop specific projects around bioenergy and bioethanol.
Founded in 1966, UNICAMP’s budget in 2011 was just over US$1 billion and the institution had more than 32 000 enrolled students. Research strengths are in bioenergy, bio processes and neurosciences.
During his visit in March, Mr McLennan met with Professor Jose Pissolato Filho, Deputy Director of the Institutional and International Relations Office (CORI), and Professor Anne Helene Fostier, Advisor of CORI. Meetings were also held with representatives of various institutes, including Professor Leandro R Tessler, Advisor to UNICAMP’s President for Internationalisation Projects; Professor Francisco Marques, Institute of Physics; Professor Gustavo Paim Valenca, School of Chemical Engineering; and Professor Luis Augusto Barbosa Cortez of the School of Agricultural Engineering. Areas of research ranged from the transformation of ethanol into chemicals such as polypropylene for Shell and Braskem, to photovoltaic cells and research towards developing a green economy.