Odebrecht Agroindustrial Receives Gold Seal in GHG Emissions

Besides making its emission inventory more transparent, the company reduced its environmental impacts compared with the last measurement

The production of energy from sugarcane offers countless environmental advantages when compared to the energy from fossil fuels. At Odebrecht Agroindustrial – which produces sugar in addition to ethanol and electricity –, this perception is part of the company’s very DNA: it uses a renewable source as its raw material and adopts measures to reduce the impact of its operations, such as the reuse of degraded areas and a 100% mechanized harvest.

Agro recently earned a distinction confirming that it is on the right track. In August, the company earned the Gold Seal under the Brazilian GHG Protocol Program for the first time. The program, which creates a platform for recording the greenhouse gas inventory, is headed by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV).

Companies that receive the Gold Seal are those whose inventories are verified by external audit. This year, 74 Brazilian companies have been classified in this category. “This distinction reinforces our commitment to transparency related to such a relevant topic for our Business, which is an environmentally responsible operation,” said Mônica Alcântara, head of Sustainability at Odebrecht Agroindustrial.

Fewer Emissions

The company’s emissions in 2016 totaled 630,700 tons of CO2e, representing a 1.5% reduction compared to the previous year. The result primarily reflects the optimization of diesel fuel consumption at the Agroindustrial Unit operations.

Another positive impact of the Agro operations were the record exports of electricity produced from biomass. Last year, 2,200 GWh of energy were sold to Brazil’s National Interconnected System (SIN), which represents 1.4 million tons of CO2 that ceased from being released into the atmosphere. “We effectively contributed toward increasing the offer of renewable energy in the country, in line with the Brazilian goals to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement,” added Mônica Alcântara.

The Odebrecht Group company has published its GHG emissions since 2015 based on the GHG Protocol methodology. The 2016 inventory was audited by the company BSI Brasil. Access the website!