JBS establishes partnership with banks to fund environmental initiatives in rural areas.

With a 45 MW installed capacity, Biolins provides 20% of JBS's electrical energy needs in Brazil. JBS, the world's largest food company, has taken another significant step towards its Net Zero 2040 commitment. It is the first in the food sector to have a project qualified to issue International Renewable Energy Certificates (I-REC), evidencing electricity generation from renewable and environmentally friendly sources. This certification was achieved through Biolins, a thermoelectric plant in Lins (SP), owned by JBS, which generates energy using various biomass materials, including sugarcane bagasse, wood sawdust, and eucalyptus residue. The plant's capacity is enough to power a city of 300,000 people. Based on its 2021 energy production, Biolins can issue 113,400 certificates for that year. In Brazil, the I-RECs are validated by the Totum Institute, allowing industries and commercial businesses to prove their electricity consumption comes from renewable sources, such as solar plants, wind projects, and biomass thermal plants. This enables certificate holders to offset their Scope 2 emissions, which include indirect CO2 emissions from their electricity use, aiding in achieving their decarbonization goals. "This achievement is very significant because it confirms that Biolins operates cleanly and injects 100% renewable source energy into the National Interconnected System (SIN). Thus, holders of I-RECs from Biolins can demonstrate that the energy used in their operations is clean," says Maurício Bauer, JBS Brazil's Sustainability Director. An Environmentally Responsible Operation Initially, JBS Biolins was established to supply steam and electrical energy to the entire JBS industrial complex in Lins (SP), encompassing various company operations such as Friboi, JBS Couros, JBS Biodiesel, JBS Environmental, and JBS Hygiene and Cleaning. Its energy surplus is fed into the National Interconnected System. "The plant's operation has always focused on sustainability, generating clean energy and steam by using biomass sourced from local operations and farms, such as sugarcane bagasse, orange tree chips, reforestation eucalyptus chips, peanut shells, eucalyptus bark, rice husk, and sawdust," explains Lari Barbosa Junior, JBS's utilities manager. JBS Biolins' qualification to issue I-REC certificates is part of JBS's various strategies to meet its commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. The company's initiative includes adopting clean energy across its global operations, with solutions like photovoltaic farms for powering its stores and constructing solar energy plants for its industrial units. As part of its efforts to achieve its Net Zero goal, JBS is investing $1 billion by 2030 to decarbonize its direct and indirect operations, with $100 million allocated for research to develop solutions for more sustainable agriculture.