Biogas & biomethane

Biogas & Biomethane

At our plants in Mato Grosso do Sul, we produce biogas from concentrated vinasse, which is a by-product of ethanol production. We use this biogas mainly to heat boiler water in our power cogeneration process.

From the biogas, we will go on to produce compressed biomethane, which we will use in our fleet vehicles and trucks, which will be adapted as natural gas vehicles (NGV).

In our dairy farms in Santa Fe, we produce biogas from of our cows’ manure. We also use biogas to feed electricity into the local grid.

Project on biogas from sugar cane

We signed a technical cooperation agreement with the Brazil GEF Biogas Project, implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and led in Brazil by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, to develop a methodology to ensure the constant production of biogas from concentrated vinasse. The project aims to promote actions to develop the biogas market and its derivatives in Brazil, in order to expand production opportunities.

Renewable natural gas certificates

Our biogas plant in Ivinhema (MS), became the first plant in Brazil to be able to issue Renewable Natural Gas Certificates (GAS-REC) for industries wishing to decarbonize their production using fossil natural gas. In turn, we were pioneers in its commercialization at the beginning of 2022.

Action plan

Ivinhema's installed capacity already allows us to use 5 % of the vinasse resulting from ethanol distillation in Mato Grosso do Sul for biogas production. Our intention is to gradually increase this percentage of vinasse use for the production of biogas and, consequently, of biomethane. With the purification and compression of this gas, the plant would be able to produce, in one year, enough biomethane to replace the consumption of 1.4 million liters of diesel in one harvest. This responds to our constant quest to become the most efficient and sustainable producers.