en.Wedoany.com Reported - The University of São Paulo (USP) has inaugurated a bioenergy and biofertilizer production plant at the Institute of Energy and Electrical Engineering (IEE), a project that demonstrates at full scale a multi-generation pathway for converting organic waste into renewable energy and biofertilizers. The facility integrates power generation, biogas production, and agricultural byproduct utilization within a single structure, following circular economy principles. It can process all organic waste generated on campus, reducing reliance on external disposal and transforming environmental liabilities into electricity, biomethane, and biofertilizers.
The plant has obtained a license from the São Paulo State Environmental Company (Cetesb) and has a daily processing capacity of 43 tons of organic waste, a volume sufficient to absorb all organic waste generated on the USP campus, while also handling materials from partner companies and institutions. The facility is equipped with a cogeneration system, including one unit with an electrical power of 75 kW and thermal power of 84 kW, and another dedicated generator set with a capacity of 240 kW, both connected to the university's distribution grid. According to USP data, each ton of organic waste processed generates approximately 110 standard cubic meters of biogas, sufficient to produce about 166 kWh of electricity.
Beyond meeting the university's research and development needs, the plant is designed to validate the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of this utilization model. USP states that the developed technology package can be replicated by municipalities, metropolitan regions, and large waste generators in the food chain, such as the food industry, supply centers, distribution networks, and restaurants.
In the private sector, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) has included the Maracanã Biomethane Project (Projeto Biometano Maracanã), owned by Solvi Essencis Ambiental, in the Special Incentive Regime for Infrastructure Development (REIDI), which suspends the collection of PIS/Pasep and COFINS on goods and services required for project implementation. Located in Caieiras (São Paulo State), the project has an estimated expenditure of R$ 490.6 million, and upon inclusion in REIDI, the value of goods and services subject to the aforementioned taxes is reduced to R$ 449.06 million. The project aims to build a plant for purifying biogas from municipal solid waste, with a daily production capacity of 220,000 standard cubic meters of biomethane, divided into two modules, each producing 110,000 standard cubic meters per day. The renewable fuel will be purified to a methane content of approximately 96% and injected into the natural gas distribution network.
