Thursday 16 June 2022
China’s Angel Yeast inks new agreement for renewable energy
China's Angel Yeast has signed a new agreement to buy electricity generated from solar and wind farms to power its operations.
It is purchasing 9,012MWh of renewable power, which accounts for around 20% of the electricity used by the company's Yichang-based factory.
It will help Angel Yeast to avoid around 6,447 tons of carbon emissions.
The company has increased investments at its manufacturing facilities to implement various carbon-reducing solutions, including the adoption of energy-saving technologies and waste heat and pressure recovery, as well as expanded the use of solar power while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
Its wastewater treatment facilities harness anaerobic fermentation technology to treat organic wastewater to produce biogas, which is reused in biogas boilers to produce steam, replacing the coal-generated and outsourced steam.
Angel Yeast is also promoting the use of biomass fuel in boilers to further reduce the use of fossil fuels.
The measures helped the company recycle 16.89 million cubic meters of biogas in 2021, a 21.7% year-on-year increase, cutting 27,000 tons of CO2 and 88,000 tons of coal-produced and outsourced steam.
With the yeast wastewater re-utilisation technology, Angel Yeast recycles the organic matter in the yeast fermentation wastewater to produce fertiliser for crops, paving the way for building a circular supply chain.
In 2021, it produced 277,000 tons of yeast organic fertiliser through this method.
The yeast and yeast extract manufacturer has been granted the green electricity certificate issued and certified by China Hubei Power Exchange Centre and China Hubei Carbon Emissions Exchange.
Angel Yeast is among the first 71 companies to be given the certificate in the province as part of China's national scheme designed to drive the green transition and move towards a circular economy.
Xiao Minghua, General Manager of Angel Yeast said: “We are honoured to be among the first batch of companies granted the green electricity certificate, which is not only a testament to our long-standing effort to implement green practices but also marks a significant progress toward our net zero emission target. As Angel continues to advance its green pledge by sourcing more electricity needs from renewable resources, as well as further ramping up investment into solar energy and biomass projects and go a long way to helping us build the blueprint for achieving renewable-powered microbial proteins production.
“In addition to increasing renewable energy procurement via green power purchase agreements, Angel Yeast has in recent years been transitioning from its dependence on fossil-fuel energy sources to a cleaner, more sustainable production mode by purchasing more biomass-produced steam, installing rooftop solar panels and recycling methane from wastewater.”
