Nineteen-year-old student Marcos Vinicius Amorim wears his medals on his chest. He won with them with his project that turns PET bottles, one of the most common forms of waste in urban environments, into a molecular sieve which increases the viability of alternative and cleaner fuels, such as compressed natural gas (CNG), and hydrogen. The project can be seen at the Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development Area, at Warehouse 4.

Marcos, who studies chemistry at the Emmanuel Leontsius Application College, in Rio de Janeiro, has won several awards at international class events. A winner at the Brazilian Science and Engineering Fair (Febrace), he was nominated to compete at Intel Ifes, one of the most prestigious awards in the world, and he received an honorable mention. At the Pop Science area, the young scientist also impressed the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Marco Antonio Raupp.

The process invented by Marcos involves the hydrolysis of the polymer from PET bottles, which is turned into grains. "This makes it possible for you to reduce the size of CNG cylinders and maintain the same volume of gas," says Marcos. "With the same size tank, you get a nine times the volume," he explains.

The project is also economically viable, says the inventor. "With 20,000 PET bottles, I get a ton of the product," says Marcos. This creates more and cleaner alternatives, such as CNG or even hydrogen, which is cleaner still," says Marcos.

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Text: Gerhard Brêda – Press Office, MCTI