Pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca has announced it is switching to biogas produced from cow manure and food waste in the US to cut its carbon emissions.
The British-Swedish drugmaker company has made a “first of its kind collaboration” with Massachusetts-based company Vanguard Renewables.
Vanguard Renewables is a leader in the development of organics to renewable energy projects.
Chief executive officer (CEO) of AstraZeneca, Pascal Soriot said: “Doing the right thing costs a little bit more, but it is not punitive.”
Soriot added that given the easy availability of natural gas in the US, the price of biogas is “relatively much higher”.
Manure process
Manure from three farms, which each have about 900 cattle in total, will be combined with food waste and placed in an area the size of “a big ice skating rink” with apparatus above to capture methane, according to AstraZeneca.
Senior vice president of the Americas supply, Andy Wirths explained that the methane will then be purified and piped into AstraZeneca’s gas grid.
AstraZeneca stated that the deal will produce as much as 650,000 million thermal units per year, equivalent to the energy needed to heat more than 17,800 homes in the US annually.
A recent study found that the global biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry has a carbon footprint larger than the forestry and paper industry.
AstraZeneca aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions it directly produces by 98% by 2026, from a 2015 baseline.
By the end of 2025 it aims to reduce absolute energy use and double energy productivity compared with 2015.
It states it will use 100% renewable energy for electricity and heat, and will maximise transition to electric vehicles in their road fleet.
Executive vice president of global operations and information technology, and chief sustainability officer at AstraZeneca, Pam Cheng said:
“Our innovative partnership with Vanguard Renewables in the US is an illustration of how we are collaborating at scale to deliver sustainable science and medicines, as part of the transition to net zero health systems and a circular economy.”
According to Reuters, researchers found that much of the global pharmaceutical and biotech industry has yet to set targets for reducing carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.
