Aston Martin Racing has become carbon neutral, after signing Brazilian energy company Odebrecht Agroindustrial as its official Sustainability Partner.
Friday 21 October, Banbury, England: Aston Martin Racing has become carbon neutral, after signing Brazilian energy company Odebrecht Agroindustrial as its official Sustainability Partner.
As one of the world’s leaders in the production of ethanol, sugar and electricity from sugarcane biomass, Odebrecht Agroindustrial captures more greenhouse gas than it emits.
Aston Martin Racing – which has nine drivers in its squad including Brazilian Fernando Rees – issued 808.78 tons of CO2 during the 2015 season. In comparison, Odebrecht Agroindustrial issued 870,189.91 tons of CO2 during the 2015/2016 crop, but also captured 1,348,901.71 tons of CO2 in its operations.
Utilising the company’s positive CO2 balance, Odebrecht Agroindustrial will offset the emissions of the British race team during the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship, neutralising the team’s racing activities.
These numbers are listed on the Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Declaration of Neutralisation is verified by BSI Brazil, an independent and recognised audit organization in South America.
“The goal of the partnership is to bring visibility to the environmental cause through the union of two companies that have distinct performance and markets that are recognized nationally and internationally”, says Luiz de Mendonça, CEO of Odebrecht Agroindustrial. “Our business is based on a renewable source of energy and our work is fully focused on sustainable solutions to prevent and minimize the environmental impacts of any productive activity. It is this awareness that we want to promote in Brazil and abroad.”
“While the ethos of endurance racing promotes efficiency when it comes to fuel consumption and tyre usage, one cannot deny the environmental impact our activities have. For Aston Martin Racing, this is about recognising that impact and taking the first step towards a more sustainable way of racing in the future”, says Jeremy Scoones, Head of Partnerships at Aston Martin Racing.
The agreement was signed during the Odebrecht Award for Sustainable Development and was held at the Museum of Tomorrow, Rio de Janeiro. The CEO of Odebrecht Agroindustrial, Luiz de Mendonça, Head of Partnerships of Aston Martin Racing, Jeremy Scoones, and the Brazilian driver Fernando Rees were all in attendance.
The Odebrecht Award for Sustainable Development is an annual event that promotes work that contributes to the sustainability of the planet, developed through partnerships between students and professors from several universities in Brazil.