8 February 2022

Go Green – Nordzucker optimistic about self-imposed CO₂ targets

With its Go Green program, Nordzucker has committed itself to an extremely ambitious goal of getting sugar out of sugar beet without fossil fuels by 2050 at the latest. Its own current target of reducing CO₂ emissions in sugar production by 25 percent by 2030 is nevertheless to be reviewed.

Nordzucker has underpinned its claim to be a pioneer in sustainability by joining the Science Based Target Initiative. Currently, the independent climate scientists define the targets for 2030 as limiting man-made global warming to well below 2 °C. Regardless of whether this target will be met in the medium term, Nordzucker is determined to do its homework conscientiously and convert its factories to a sustainable production process. The reduction of CO₂ emissions must go hand in hand with further significant energy savings and a switch to a renewable energy supply without fossil fuels. One option here is the use of biogas from the company’s own beet pulp.

The beet pulp that has been marketed as animal feed up to now could be partly diverted to the plants’ own energetic use. In the long term, the Nordzucker factories will be able to operate almost self-sufficiently in terms of energy. However, the necessary legal changes have yet to be introduced in the current revision of the relevant EU regulations. Nordzucker is working at all political levels to ensure that this promising path is not left unexploited. The possibility of using the beet pulp that is already produced during processing to generate energy would take us a decisive step closer to climate-neutral sugar production.