Key takeaways
- The plant is predicted to produce 100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable fuel yearly to AstraZeneca’s U.Ok. operations.
- It was constructed by Future Biogas with a 15-year, $130 million offtake settlement from AstraZeneca.
- It makes use of devoted vitality crops fairly than waste supplies.
In an business higher recognized for pioneering new medicines than renewable vitality, AstraZeneca has taken a major step in direction of the latter: the pharmaceutical large is now fueling its U.Ok. operations with “inexperienced fuel” from a purpose-built biomethane plant.
The ability, situated at Gonerby Moor in Lincolnshire, east England, and operated by Future Biogas, is the U.Ok.’s first unsubsidized biomethane plant devoted to serving the life sciences sector.
It additionally represents a critical dedication to decarbonization — and a template for different high-emitting industries to repeat.
“We’ve been on a journey within the U.Ok. for a few years to scale back our carbon footprint,” Liz Chatwin, vice chairman of sustainability and international security, well being and surroundings at AstraZeneca, advised Trellis. “The lacking piece of the puzzle was our supply of warmth energy.”
That hole has now been stuffed by biomethane produced from domestically grown vitality crops by way of anaerobic digestion, then injected into the nationwide fuel grid. Biomethane is taken into account carbon impartial as a result of the carbon launched throughout digestion and burning is absorbed by the crops as they develop.
The plant is predicted to produce 100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable fuel yearly to AstraZeneca’s websites in Macclesfield, Cambridge, Luton and Speke — sufficient to satisfy the warmth demand of greater than 8,000 U.Ok. houses.
The plant, constructed with a 15-year, £100 million ($130 million) dedication from the pharmaceutical large, completes AstraZeneca’s aim of getting all its U.Ok. R&D and manufacturing powered by one hundred pc renewable vitality. AstraZeneca will take all the plant’s era capability for not less than the subsequent 15 years.
Why biomethane is an efficient match for the life sciences
The pharmaceutical business has a giant emissions downside. In keeping with a 2019 research, pharma firms generate over 48 tons of carbon dioxide equal per $1 million of income — round 55 p.c greater than the emissions depth of the automotive sector.
In all, roughly 4.5 p.c of worldwide emissions are attributed to the healthcare sector, with the majority related to pharmaceutical procurement, manufacturing and use.
So why flip to biomethane?
“There’s lots of processes in prescribed drugs which are arduous to affect as a result of they require excessive warmth, like elevating steam,” mentioned Philipp Lukas, CEO of Future Biogas. “Biomethane is a drop-in gas for that. It’s a one-for-one substitute, that means all of the infrastructure to ship and use it’s already there.
“If an organization desires to decarbonize shortly while on that journey to electrification, then working on biomethane can present an answer in 12 to 18 months.”
Future-proof energy provides
Past comfort, the venture additionally goals to be self-sustaining. In contrast to many earlier biogas schemes, this plant operates with out subsidies and makes use of devoted vitality crops, not waste supplies.
That distinction issues. Whereas animal manure generally is a beneficial feedstock for biomethane, Lukas famous, it comes with the complication of presumably selling intensive livestock farming. “AstraZeneca wished one thing the place they may see the sustainability right through,” he mentioned.
As a substitute, crops are grown domestically below five-year contracts that assist farmers put money into regenerative practices, equivalent to diversified crop rotation, decreased fertilizer use and improved soil well being.
“The thrilling factor about that is that you may assist meals manufacturing, not solely boosting resilience but in addition decreasing fossil gas inputs on the farm,” Lukas mentioned.
Minimize carbon, and seize it too
The Gonerby Moor web site doesn’t cease at producing biomethane. It additionally contains carbon seize know-how that removes CO2 from the fermentation course of — CO2 that the vitality crops had absorbed from the ambiance a season earlier.
To start with, the captured fuel might be utilized in business — for greenhouses, tender drink carbonization and the like – however longer-term, AstraZeneca hopes to ship it for everlasting geological storage by way of Norway’s Northern Lights venture, turning the plant right into a carbon-negative operation.
In keeping with AstraZeneca, the partnership with Future Biogas will cut back its emissions by 20,000 tons of CO2 equal per yr. A serious retrofit of its Macclesfield mixed warmth and energy (CHP) plant will save one other 16,000 tons.
All of that is a part of the corporate’s Ambition Zero Carbon program, which goals to halve emissions throughout its full worth chain by 2030 and attain science-based internet zero by 2045.
A possible mannequin
It’s a daring transfer — however is it replicable? That’s, might different pharmaceutical or life science firms undertake an identical strategy?
“The Moor Bioenergy plant serves as a wonderful blueprint for different firms in our sector.” mentioned Chatwin. “By using domestically sourced bioenergy crops and revolutionary carbon seize applied sciences, we’re demonstrating how vitality effectivity and sustainability might be built-in into manufacturing and analysis processes.”
“The unsubsidized nature of this venture highlights the broader function of firms in serving to to construct up renewable vitality infrastructure,” mentioned Amy Sales space, a researcher on the College of Oxford who research the environmental impression of well being methods. “It could be good to see others within the business taking that up too.”
AstraZeneca shouldn’t be solely shopping for into biomethane; it has additionally minimize its vitality demand. The unique estimate was that the corporate would wish 350 GWh of electrical energy per yr. After a company-wide push on vitality effectivity — upgrading gear, enhancing insulation and switching to electrical methods the place potential — that determine dropped to 100 GWh.
“At all times observe the maxim: use much less, and pay extra,” mentioned Lukas. “The much less vitality you want, the extra you may afford to put money into the sustainable choices.”
The corporate is planning to put money into different renewable vitality initiatives, together with a partnership within the US with Vanguard Reneawables to ship biomethane to all of its websites by the top of 2026.
Different firms are additionally exploring biomethane. French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi not too long ago introduced a purchase order settlement to decarbonize 56 p.c of its fuel consumption in France. The 6-year deal covers 1.3 TWh of energy, together with an extra 10-year contract protecting 110 GWh to decarbonize Sanofi’s web site in Lyon.
GSK, one other pharmaceutical behemoth, is as an alternative trying to photo voltaic. The corporate entered right into a digital energy buy settlement in 2024 to produce 50 p.c of its European operations with solar energy for 12 years utilizing websites in Spain.
Challenges forward
Vitality procurement alone won’t considerably shrink AstraZeneca’s footprint. Upwards of 90 p.c of the pharmaceutical business’s emissions are Scope 3, stemming from advanced international provide chains that embody all the things from packaging and logistics to the top use of merchandise, all working below various rules throughout completely different nations.
“I might congratulate [AstraZeneca] on this, however to place it into perspective, Scope 2 is a small a part of the general emissions problem,” mentioned Jagjit Singh Srai, head of the Centre for Worldwide Manufacturing on the College of Cambridge. “Scope 1 is one thing you may actually management — that’s your vitality effectivity, and so on. And I feel the subsequent most controllable ingredient is your vitality sourcing. They are going to be Scope 3 additionally and addressing that immediately.”
AstraZeneca has its eyes upon the Scope 3 problem, as nicely.
Greater than two thirds of U.Ok. firm’s suppliers have dedicated to science-based targets, Chatwin mentioned. The corporate can also be a founding member of Energize — a collaboration between Schneider Electrical and 19 international pharma firms to “facilitate renewable energy at scale for our suppliers.”
“Whereas there may be nonetheless extra to be accomplished,” Chatwin added, “we’re making progress, and it’s certainly a shared problem.”
