Cowpower: JBS Supplies a Primary Ingredient of Sustainable Aviation Fuel

August 01, 2024

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(JBS) Beef tallow and pork grease from JBS operations in the United States, Canada, and Australia is being transformed into low carbon intensity fuels for the transportation and shipping sectors. In the past two years, JBS has directed 1.2 million tons of human inedible animal waste towards the production Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and other renewable fuels. In 2022, JBS facilities in the United States, Australia, and Canada marketed approximately 465,000 tons of tallow and grease to the renewable fuel industry. In 2023, the company's operations are expected to exceed 700,000 tons.

SAF presents itself as a climate friendly alternative to fossil fuel, as it can reduce carbon emissions by up to 70% and can be used as a mixture of up to 50% in the fossil based jet fuel tank used in commercial aircraft.

For Jason Weller, JBS's global CSO, the initiative reinforces the company's commitment to responsible waste management – and to promoting the circular economy in its operations. "The aviation sector was historically challenged in decarbonizing since they depend on fossil fuel. By repurposing human inedible animal waste, we contribute to the environment and help this critical sector in their decarbonization process," he says.

In Brazil, Friboi has already begun studies to test the feasibility of supplying residual animal products for aviation fuel production.

Fuel for ships and trucks

The shipping sector shares the same challenge to reduce its GHG emissions.

In Brazil, Biopower, a JBS company responsible for biodiesel production, has subjected the biofuel to practical tests. A truck from the Dutch manufacturer DAF already uses B100 with the aim of proving the quality of the biofuel as an important substitute for the sector. The truck has already surpassed 120,000 km of use. Fueled exclusively with biodiesel produced by Biopower, the result showed that the vehicle fueled with 100% biodiesel (B100) had performance equivalent to diesel and emitted up to 80% less carbon dioxide.

The company was the first in the country to obtain authorization from the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels (ANP) to fuel JBS's truck fleet. Located in the industrial complex of Lins, in the interior of São Paulo, the biopoint, as it is called, has two pumps dedicated exclusively to B100 and has the capacity to offer 30,000 liters of fuel. READ MORE

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JBS USA and GreenGasUSA Partner to Transform Renewable Natural Gas Production (GreenGasUSA)

Excerpt from GreenGasUSA: Industry leaders announce strategic biogas partnership that will displace the GHG emissions equivalent to 60 million miles driven by a car, or 26 million pounds of coal burned, annually. -- JBS USA, a leading global food producer, and GreenGasUSA today announced a new partnership to produce renewable natural gas (RNG) at multiple JBS beef and poultry processing facilities across the U.S.

Climate change and food security are two seemingly competing challenges — feeding a future world of 10 billion people with safe, nutritious, affordable food while also urgently helping the food system address environmental impacts and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

JBS believes it has a responsibility to help lead sustainable transformation by example and, as a result, is undertaking a comprehensive approach to address its own GHG emissions while also helping to empower its value chain to collectively move forward. One of JBS’s key strategies to address its emissions is to adopt circular economy technology to repurpose waste streams into renewable energy. This approach can help the food system meet the twin challenges of food security and addressing climate change impacts.

To move with speed and scale innovative circular economy solutions, JBS is partnering with GreenGasUSA to build upon JBS’s existing methane capture capabilities with a goal to maximize methane capture and RNG production.

By installing GreenGasUSA’s on-site gas upgrading systems, biogas collected from the wastewater streams of JBS facilities will be purified into pipeline-quality RNG, allowing end users to displace fossil fuel usage.

The partnership will begin with initial installations at JBS facilities in Grand Island, Nebraska andHyrum, Utah; and the Pilgrim’s Sumter, South Carolina facility. This collaboration is expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at these facilities while improving wastewater operations and local air and water quality, and support the renewable energy market through the distribution of Renewable Natural Gas. The project at Pilgrim’s Sumter, South Carolina facility is scheduled to be completed in early 2025, while the Grand Island, Nebraska and Hyrum, Utah projects are slated for completion at the end of 2025.

“At JBS and Pilgrim’s, we’re committed to reducing the impact of food production by partnering with stakeholders to reduce our carbon footprint. This collaboration with GreenGasUSA is a perfect example of these efforts,” said Wesley Batista Filho, CEO of JBS Foods USA. “This innovative approach takes what was once an unused byproduct of food production and transforms it to offset a significant amount of fossil fuels. This process can be a model for the rest of the industry to follow.”

The partnership with GreenGasUSA allows for a more circular solution for that biogas by converting it into a renewable fuel. Inserting this RNG into existing energy pipelines will displace the GHG emissions equivalent to 60 million miles driven by a car, or 26 million pounds of coal burned, annually.

“GreenGas is deeply committed to developing solutions that address GHG emissions in the most difficult-to-decarbonize industries,” said Marc Fetten, CEO and Founder of GreenGasUSA. “We see tremendous opportunity in our partnership with JBS USA to significantly reduce on-site environmental impacts, produce sustainable, renewable energy, and support climate change initiatives in other industries.”

In addition to today’s announcement, JBS has initiated more than 25 projects globally to eliminate, orcapture and destroy, methane emissions from organic waste lagoons at JBS facilities since 2019. Many of these projects additionally include the beneficial reuse of the methane to displace fossil fuel use. Examples include converting anaerobic systems to aerobic, thereby eliminating methane emissions; or using the captured biogas to generate renewable electricity; or producing Renewable Natural Gas for pipeline distribution; or other beneficial uses.

On a global scale, these aggressive actions to destroy and/or recover methane from our anaerobic waste treatment systems has resulted in the reduction of over 600,000 tonnes/year of greenhouse gases, equivalent to the emissions produced by an average vehicle circumnavigating the earth 193,000 times.

About JBS Foods USA: JBS USA is a leading global food company providing diversified, high-quality products to customers in approximately 100 countries on six continents. This includes meat and poultry products, a portfolio of recognized brands and innovative premium foods. JBS USA is also a majority shareholder of Pilgrim’s, the largest poultry producer in the world. Visit jbsfoodsgroup.com to learn more.

About GreenGasUSA: GreenGasUSA partners with global businesses to help reduce their environmental footprint by producing renewable natural gas and other renewable products, like carbon dioxide (CO2), clean water, and agricultural nutrients. GreenGasUSA’s wastewater and engineering experts design and permit comprehensive biogas solutions including, biogas capture, anaerobic digestion, gas flaring, compression, transportation, and pipeline injection. GreenGasUSA has operational RNG facilities at agricultural and food processing sources across the country, with proven success in installing, commissioning, and operating gas upgrading equipment; RNG and CO2 product compression and transportation; and existing pipeline injection infrastructure. GreenGasUSA’s existing assets and partnerships with sustainability leaders are helping to shape the renewable energy landscape by offering solutions to customers dedicated to bettering the environment. GreenGasUSA has five operational RNG facilities, and one CO2 facility, and is actively developing additional RNG and CO2 facilities across the U.S.

GreenGasUSA is majority owned by the IFM Net Zero Infrastructure Fund (“IFM NZIF”). IFM NZIF is an open-ended fund, managed by IFM Investors, which targets essential infrastructure assets that seek to accelerate the world’s transition to a net-zero emissions economy. READ MORE