May 14, 2023. A few weeks ago, part of the fleet was supplied with biomethane produced from sugarcane stillage at the Ivinhema Plant, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, and inaugurated a new stage in the trajectory of sustainable businesses of Adecoagro, one of the main food and renewable energy companies in South America. With three plants in Brazil, two in Mato Grosso and one in Minas Gerais, and an annual capacity to process 13.7 million tons of sugarcane, the firm has spent 15 years developing technologies for biogas production and is now opening up new business opportunities in different markets.
Adecoagro is using around 3% of the stillage generated to produce 6,600 Nm3/day of biomethane, equivalent to 6,000 liters of diesel/day. With the construction and inauguration of another biodigester at the Ivinhema plant in the second half of the year, it will double its capacity. This will allow the replacement of the equivalent of 4.3 million liters of diesel, enough to supply 66 sugarcane trucks.
The increase will allow Adecoagro to increase its fleet supplied with biomethane in 2023, as well as the direct sale of the gaseous fuel for large consumers and the transformation of the additional biogas into electrical energy, depending on market opportunities. The perspective is that, with the start-up of the new biodigester, the company will have additional income either by saving diesel in its fleet, or by the direct sale of biomethane or electricity from biogas.
In the long term, based on the increasing use of stillage for the production of this new renewable fuel, it is estimated to replace the equivalent of 50 million liters of diesel per year, which today supply the entire fleet of trucks and agricultural equipment, making the company self-sufficient. This change will strengthen the sustainability of the entire process and will increase Renovabio’s rating, resulting in an additional source in the issuance of CBios.
