Enviva Holdings LP, the world's largest wood pellet producer has announced its goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its operations by 2030."Providing clean energy solutions to others is not enough. Enviva is now taking steps to dramatically reduce the climate impact of our own operations by undertaking its goal to become net zero in its operations by 2030," said John Keppler, Chairman, and CEO of Enviva.
“Providing clean energy solutions to others is not enough. Enviva is now taking steps to dramatically reduce the climate impact of our own operations by undertaking its goal to become net zero in its operations by 2030,” said John Keppler, Chairman, and CEO of Enviva, here seen addressing delegates at the 2018 USIPA conference.
According to a statement, pledging to become carbon neutral and use 100 percent renewable energy in its operations emphasizes the company’s mission and core purpose to displace coal, grow more trees, and fight climate change.
At Enviva, fighting climate change is at the core of what we do. For more than a decade, we have played a critical role in helping the world’s energy producers substantially reduce their net carbon emissions by using sustainable bioenergy, enabling them to phase out coal, support increases in forest carbon stocks, and provide reliable, affordable energy to their communities. But the climate crisis demands urgency in action. It requires all of us to work harder. So today, Enviva is announcing its plan to reduce, eliminate, or offset 100 percent of our carbon emissions, said John Keppler, Chairman, and CEO of Enviva.
The commitment sets forth an ambitious plan for eliminating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its operations in keeping with international climate goals, including the Paris Agreement’s goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
Enviva’s sustainably sourced wood is used to manufacture wood pellets, a renewable fuel source that provides global power and heat generators with a drop-in alternative to fossil fuels.
Enviva currently exports its pellets primarily to the United Kingdom (UK), mainland Europe, the Caribbean, and Japan, enabling its customers to reduce their carbon emissions by more than 85 percent on a lifecycle basis, helping them reach their GHG emissions reduction targets with renewable energy.
Providing clean energy solutions to others is not enough. Enviva is now taking steps to dramatically reduce the climate impact of our own operations by undertaking its goal to become net zero in its operations by 2030, said John Keppler.
As part of this goal, Enviva will reduce, eliminate, or offset all of its direct emissions; source 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, and drive innovative improvements in its supply chain.
Forest offsets in the US Southeast
Enviva will immediately work to minimize the emissions from fossil fuels used directly in its operations – its Scope 1 emissions.
As the company’s efforts to minimize the use of fossil fuels and improve the efficiency of its operations will take time and continue to mature, in the interim, Enviva will offset 100 percent of its residual emissions through investments in projects that result in real, additional, and third-party verified net-carbon reductions.
Enviva will focus on forest offsets created in the US Southeast as part of its partnership with Finite Carbon and others, building on its experience working directly with private landowners.
The company plans to work with key stakeholders and others who are investing in high-quality offsets that ensure real and verifiable benefits, prioritizing those created from forest management, afforestation, and reforestation projects.
The Finite Carbon team is proud to support and work with Enviva to implement our shared belief that forest landowners with as few as 40 acres should have the opportunity to earn revenue from their long-term commitments to sustainable land management by keeping forests as forests. We commend Enviva for its ambitious plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, said Sean Carney, President of Finite Carbon.
Source 50 percent renewable energy by 2025
To address the emissions arising from electricity purchases in its operations – its Scope 2 emissions – the company plans to source 100 percent renewable energy for its operations by no later than 2030, with an interim target of at least 50 percent by 2025.
While all of the fuel utilized in the pellets’ drying operations is already provided by 100 percent renewable resources, Enviva still uses electricity from the grid, which in the US Southeast where Enviva’s operations are located, still relies heavily on coal and natural gas and where market structures make renewable energy supply more difficult than in many other parts of the country.
The company recognizes that efforts are underway in the regions in which it operates to transition the grid to lower-emissions sources, and it intends to play a positive role in accelerating those trends.
Enviva intends to work with renewable energy suppliers to generate zero-carbon renewable energy for its operations.
Enviva seeks to both maximize the use of on-site renewable energy generation at its facilities, as well as to develop new off-site renewable energy resources physically located in its regions where possible.
To accelerate meeting this goal, the company has joined the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), a consortium of over 200 businesses committed to large-scale purchases of clean renewable energy.
Drive supply-chain emission reductions
To address emissions generated as part of its upstream and downstream supply chain – its Scope 3 emissions – Enviva plans to proactively engage with partners and other key stakeholders to adopt clean-energy solutions.
The company plans to work with its stakeholders to improve the environmental emissions intensity of trucking, rail, and shipping logistics.
It plans further to take steps to accelerate and advocate for the development of new solutions and to work with its stakeholders to bring those solutions to market.
For example, it is seeking to join Sea Cargo Charter, a cross-industry partnership of ship charterers that aims to establish a consistent global framework for transparently assessing and disclosing the climate impact of ship chartering operations.
Furthermore, Enviva will transparently report progress, track and publish its progress in reducing its emissions annually, and intends to disclose climate-relevant data and risks through CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) by the end of 2022.
This very public pledge to mitigate climate change at all levels of our operations by minimizing our own carbon footprint further extends our commitment to keeping forests as forests and to responsible and sustainable wood sourcing. I feel privileged to be at the helm of our climate action plan, which is an important component to accelerating Enviva’s sustainability efforts. Working collaboratively across the company and with key stakeholders, we have defined this concrete and actionable plan that, consistent with our forest-based operations in the US Southeast, will enable us to achieve immediate, additional, and measurable emissions reductions. I look forward to executing this innovative plan to achieve carbon neutrality in our own operations by 2030, said Dr Jennifer Jenkins, VP and Chief Sustainability Officer of Enviva.
