Brazil's JBS will commence the supply of electricity produced by biogas generators to 10 Swift stores in São Paulo.
JBS has teamed up with Âmbar Energia – the energy solutions company for J&F Investimentos – for the project.
The energy is produced through biodigesters that capture and process methane at the company's Friboi beef production units.
The company has invested R$ 54 million (€10.1 million) in installing biodigesters at nine units in the states of São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais and Rondônia, which are producing around 80,000 cubic metres of energy per day, the company added.
"The first phase of the initiative covers the nine largest Friboi units and will reduce the business's Scope 1 emissions by 65%, which represents a 24.6% reduction in Scope 1 emissions from all JBS activities in Brazil," said Gilberto Xandó, president of JBS Brasil.
"In addition to supplying Swift shops, we can use biogas to generate steam in the units' boilers, as fuel for the JBS carrier fleet to replace diesel or even to produce green hydrogen."
Biogas Production
Frozen food retailer Swift will use biogas produced at the Friboi unit in Andradina, in the interior of São Paulo, to meet its energy requirements.
Generators installed by Âmbar at the facility will use around 4,500 cubic metres of biogas per day to produce electricity.
The generators are expected to commence commercial production in December and supply energy to Swift outlets in Atibaia, Votuporanga, Leme, Vila Caiçara, Arujá, Limeira, Itanhaém, Peruíbe, Ubatuba, and Mongaguá.
Chief financial officer and responsible for Swift's sustainability programmes, Raphael Jacob said, "This new project is directly linked to our strategy of implementing initiatives that reduce the carbon footprint of our operations.
"Thus, the generation of energy through biogas will complement the action of installing solar panels on the roofs of Swift shops, which are currently present in 101 units of our brand, and in three remote plants, the so-called solar farms."
In total, Swift has installed 4,801 solar panels on the rooftop of its shops, occupying an area of 20,000 square metres.
In 2022, the solar panels produced 1.618 million kWh of energy, helping the company to reduce the equivalent of 546 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
