Cleaner transportation alternatives that are energetically self-sufficient and not subject to fuel price fluctuations stimulate the imagination of many people. After all, vehicles are primarily responsible for environmental pollution. Already operating in various parts of the world, including Brazil, electric vehicles fulfill, at first glance, the function of reducing pollution. However, the issue remains quite controversial.
For the president of Abesco (Brazilian Association of Energy Conservation Service Companies), Alexandre Sedlacek Moana, an energy matrix based on clean energy production is necessary to attest to the efficiency of electric vehicles. “We may just be transferring the production of pollution from the car's engine to electricity-generating plants, as is the case with units that use coal or diesel,” he explains.
Sedlacek, who will speak on May 22 at 10:45 a.m. about “Impacts on the leverage of electric mobility” during the 9th Congress of Clean and Renewable Technologies for Power Generation, which takes place during the Ecoenergy – International Fair and Congress of Clean and Renewable Technologies for Power Generation, between May 21 and 23, in São Paulo, points out that Brazil currently has the best solution for electric mobility. “Today we can talk about hybrid cars that can run on both ethanol and electricity, two fuels that represent less pollution,” he states. “Meanwhile, other countries are still discussing the best alternatives, which are not expected to arrive for another 50 years.”.
A critic of the exclusively electricity-powered car, Sedlacek points out that electricity generation itself has gained other solutions.
Solar energy
Among various solutions, the car equipped with photovoltaic cells, that is, which use solar energy to generate electricity, is still a dream. Some projects have been developed, but Sedlacek sees no possibility of making them viable in the short term. “The area for installing panels on cars is not sufficient to guarantee the necessary energy,” he guarantees.
The solution may be the one found by researchers at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). They have developed a bus with batteries powered exclusively by solar energy. “But the generation is not done through panels installed on the vehicle,” reminds the president of Abesco.
The bus takes a relatively simple 25.3-kilometer route between two UFSC campuses, one at Sapiens Parque in Canasvieiras and the other at the Central Campus. And the batteries are charged with electricity generated by photovoltaic cells installed on the roofs of the UFSC Research Center. “This could be a way forward. Installing solar panels that will capture and store the energy. And the batteries would be charged at these locations. That way, we would have electrical energy without producing pollution,” says Sedlacek.
Currently, Brazil is the largest producer of electrical energy from hydroelectric plants, which are considered non-polluting. However, the percentage share of these plants in the country's energy matrix has been falling. In other countries, thermoelectric plants are used, the vast majority of which are powered by coal and diesel oil, which are highly polluting. “The use of fossil fuel in vehicles is more efficient than in electricity generation. Therefore, it generates less pollution. During Ecoenergy, we will bring this concern with the search for non-polluting electric power production that can be the solution for electric mobility,” anticipates Sedlacek.
Service:
Exposec – 22nd International Security Fair
Data: May 21 to 23, 2019
Time: 1 PM to 8 PM
Local São Paulo Expo Exhibition & Convention Center
Imigrantes Highway, Km 1.5 – São Paulo/SP
www.exposec.com.br
About Cipa Fiera Milano
Cipa Fiera Milano, the Brazilian subsidiary of Fiera Milano—one of the largest trade fair and congress players in the world, which each year attracts approximately 30,000 exhibitors and more than five million visitors—became the majority shareholder of Cipa do Brasil in 2011, giving rise to Cipa Fiera Milano. In Brazil, it organizes nine trade fairs representing the most diverse segments of the economy, such as security, clean and sustainable energy, pipes and fittings, cables and wires, occupational health, surface treatment, window frames, rehabilitation technologies, inclusion, and accessibility, among others. Among the main brands in its portfolio are Exposec, Fisp, Fesqua, Ebrats, Ecoenergy, and Reatech.
Source: Press office | 2PRÓ Comunicação
