A cooperation agreement has been signed by Yara Germany, the Bindewald & Gutting Milling Group and Harry-Brot, to decarbonise German cereal cultivation through the adoption of green fertilisers. As part of the agreement, Norwegian ammonia will be created using hydropower and processed in Rostock.
Starting as early as the 2023/24 growing season, contract farmers of the Bindewald & Gutting Milling Group will use Yara’s green fertiliser on an area of around 1,600 ha. The fertiliser will be produced from green ammonia at Yara’s plant in Rostock, Germany.
Unlike traditional methods that utilise fossil fuels such as natural gas for ammonia extraction, green ammonia is made using renewable energy sources such as wind, hydropower, or solar energy, which involves obtaining the necessary hydrogen for ammonia synthesis through electrolysis. The outcome is a fertiliser with up to 90% reduced CO2 footprint when compared to conventional methods.
The newly signed agreement will see Yara Germany, all nine locations of the Bindewald & Gutting Milling Group, and Harry-Brot reducing CO2 emissions in cereal production. The partnership will reduce the carbon footprint along the entire food value chain, starting from fertilisers to sales and ultimately reaching end consumers.
Germans want a climate-friendly food production
An IPSOS study commissioned by Yara showed that 74% of German consumers want product packaging to display a CO2 footprint, with 53% willing to pay extra for food produced with reduced fossil fuels. By using green fertiliser, grain CO2 footprints can be reduced by up to 30%, offering consumers a sustainable food choice and supporting climate-friendly production.
An additional reduction in field emissions is also attainable through optimised fertiliser management, incorporating balanced crop nutrition, selecting the most efficient nitrogen form, and site-specific fertilisation tailored to crop needs. By integrating these approaches with Yara’s digital precision farming tools, the company provides its partners with a comprehensive fertilisation solution, which is complemented by decades of expertise.
Benoît Lamaison, SVP of the Continental Europe Business Unit, welcomed the cooperation with the Bindewald & Gutting Milling Group and Harry-Brot, “Today’s signing of our cooperation agreement officially kicks off the first project in Germany using Yara’s green fertiliser solution based on fossil-free ammonia. We are looking forward to the cooperation and hope this is the first of many partnerships across the entire food value chain.”
“Our partnership with the Bindewald & Gutting Milling Group and Harry-Brot is a crucial first step to decarbonise German agriculture. It is a concrete example of how food production can be transformed sustainably. However, not only all stakeholders along the food value chain are challenged and invited to actively participate in agriculture’s green transformation but also politicians promoting the expansion of renewable energies,” added Marco Fleischmann, the Managing Director of Yara Germany.
Significant CO2 footprint reduction from the field to baked goods
With nine locations and approximately 500 employees, the Bindewald & Gutting Milling Group is one of Germany’s leading flour producers. Driven by its sustainability objectives, the mill group plans to use this pilot project to assess the CO2 footprint of their grain and monitor the product’s carbon footprint.
For them, the partnership with Yara represents a logical extension of their long-standing commitment to pursuing more sustainable production practices over the course of several decades.
Harry-Brot is continuously pursuing innovative practices across the entire value chain as a market leader in bread and bakery products. Driven by a solid commitment to sustainability, the company is constantly evolving. In the project partnership, they will transform the resulting flour into high-quality food products, thus covering the complete value chain from raw materials to grocery store shelves.
“The avoidance and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in all scopes is at the core of our sustainability strategy. While we are continuously working on reducing Scopes 1 and 2 CO2 emissions, with short delivery and transport routes and efficient production, we are still dependent on agriculture and our suppliers when it comes to Scope 3 emissions.
If we succeed, starting with fertilisation, we can reduce emissions precisely where a large proportion of our supply chain emissions has always occurred. This is why we are proud to be part of this innovative project,” explains Norbert Lötz, the Managing Director for Production and Technology at Harry-Brot.
The partners are looking forward to the close cooperation and are hoping for a pull effect in the sector so that the joint approach to reduce the CO2 footprint in cereal cultivation is replicated by other players as well.
What is a CO2 footprint?
The CO2 footprint provides a measure of a product’s climate-friendliness by encompassing the total greenhouse gases generated throughout its production process. Carbon dioxide (CO2) serves as the reference point in this calculation. To account for the varying impact of greenhouse gases on global warming, their effects are converted into CO2 equivalents (CO2 eq).
The CO2 footprint of nitrogen fertilisers
Today Yara’s nitrate-based mineral fertilisers produced in the European Union and Norway already have a carbon footprint that is about 50 to 60 per cent lower compared with most non-EU fertilisers thanks to the use of a best available technology (BAT) catalytic process that was first developed by Yara and later shared with other producers.
Using renewable electricity to produce nitrate-based green fertilisers will lower the carbon footprint by a further 80 to 90 per cent. The carbon footprint calculations of Yara fertilisers are verified by DNV, an independent quality assurance and certification service provider.
Yara is working across all production sites to reduce the remaining climate impact, for example, also by enabling the use of recycled nutrients and further improving the energy efficiency of its production facilities.
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