![\"Cattle](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/00ARRE-BEAF-77-scaled.jpg\")
<\/div>Though the company\u2019s innovation cannot address many inevitable life-cycle emissions of livestock \u2013 such as those from cow\u2019s belches \u2013 by capturing and repurposing many organic waste products, it can help to reduce emissions by \u201cclosing the loop\u201d in a form of circular economy. However, whether or not biogas can be considered \u201crenewable\u201d is a divisive issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In any case, between the start of the biodigester\u2019s commercial operations in July 2021 and the end of January, almost 4,000 megawatts (MW) of energy has been fed into the grid, avoiding the emission of some 1,519 tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to figures provided by ArreBeef. \u201cIt is equivalent to the work that 1,257,108 trees would have to do for a year to mitigate these emissions,\u201d Accietto claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The meatpacking plant, which employs around 1,000 people and exports to China and Chile, among other destinations, is committed to improving sustainability and efficiency, in an industry in which customers are increasingly looking for green labels to guarantee their consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur markets are becoming more and more demanding with regard to the environmental commitment of companies. Our new consumers are looking more at product traceability, carbon footprint, water footprint and environmental commitment. We want to be ready for that,\u201d Accietto added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Livestock farming generates emissions in different ways: firstly, through the digestive processes of cattle, which emit methane \u2013 a gas that is over 80 times more potent<\/a> than carbon dioxide in its effect on global warming over a period of 20 years. Added to this are emissions from the meat processing industry\u2019s waste and, indirectly, from deforestation linked to the expansion of agricultural land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Argentina has around 52 million head of cattle, according to data<\/a> from the Instituto de la Promoci\u00f3n de la Carne Vacuna Argentina (IPCVA). There are some 130,800 farms dedicated to cattle production, according to the latest National Agricultural Census<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Globally, livestock farming is responsible for 14.5%<\/a> of human-driven greenhouse gas emissions. In Argentina, this percentage is considerably higher. However, livestock\u2019s overall contribution to emissions is contested by some analysts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Argentina\u2019s livestock sector, the main argument is that most of the country\u2019s production is done on natural pastures rather than on deforested, converted land<\/a>. As carbon accumulates in their soils \u2013 and can remain there for up to hundreds of years \u2013 pastures can contribute to removing carbon from the atmosphere. Figures within the industry argue that this sequestration potential is ignored, and that the sector\u2019s net emissions be considered in calculations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond the ongoing debate on how to measure emissions, there are other ways to alleviate the environmental footprint of livestock both during production and commercialisation. This is where the biogas operation at ArreBeef, a pioneer in the region, comes in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ArreBeef Energ\u00eda began to design its project in 2018 under RenovAr<\/a>, a national programme launched in 2016. The scheme has offered regular public tenders in which different companies present their investment projects and the price at which they are willing to sell their generation capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt that time we started to study the potential of our organic waste because we knew we could be more efficient in its use,\u201d Accietto recalls. The company set up a project to generate biogas and then transform it into electricity to be fed onto the national grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The contract that ArreBeef signed with the national government establishes a commitment to contribute a minimum of 7,200 MW annually to the grid, to be distributed on either of the two medium-voltage lines that reach P\u00e9rez Mill\u00e1n, the town where the plant is located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To this end, the company built a biodigester, a large tank that is filled with organic waste and is hermetically sealed. As the organic matter decomposes inside the tank, it produces biogas, a fuel that can be captured and used to generate electricity by combustion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The biodigester at ArreBeef Energ\u00eda is fed with organic waste from different sources. Two come from industrial drains, which the company calls the \u201cred\u201d and the \u201cgreen\u201d lines. The red line is the blood and remains of the animals, while the green line contains manure from the trucks used to transport the animals, their pens and the contents left in the animal\u2019s stomach at the time of slaughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are two other lines of waste that feed the biodigester: the remains of animals that arrive dead at the slaughterhouse and those that are likely to have a disease; and tallow from slaughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inside the biodigester, two types of bacteria \u2013 anaerobic, those that require no oxygen, and mesophilic, which grow in moderate temperatures \u2013 get to work on decomposing the waste. \u201cWe need an absence of oxygen, ensuring that it is 100% airtight, and on the other hand the bacteria need a temperature of around 40 degrees,\u201d Accietto says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bacteria transform the organic matter into a biogas that has a methane content of around 70%, while the rest is carbon dioxide. The biogas is captured and burned as fuel for a generator that then feeds onto the grid. The plant has a maximum power output of 1.5 MW per hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ArreBeef Energ\u00eda explained that the electricity generated by the biodigester is supplied in its entirety into the national electricity system, with none of it used for self-consumption. \u201cThe value of the sale of energy from renewable sources versus the [cheaper] price of the energy we take from the non-renewable grid makes a differential that explains it,\u201d said Accietto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the company, the investment in a biogenerator is a bet on the future. \u201cAlthough we do not yet have eco-labelling, we are already communicating to our suppliers and our customers what we do with organic materials so that, in the future, we can be on our way to achieving a carbon-neutral product,\u201d Accietto said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fernando Vilella, director of the bioeconomy programme at the University of Buenos Aires, said sooner rather than later, the markets that pay the most for Argentine meat will ask for this type of certification. \u201cConsumers will increasingly ask for more information on the environmental footprint of food, and this information is still very limited in Argentina,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have to make an additional effort and generate strategies to associate a characteristic of reduced environmental footprint with the product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe productive base is already in place and it is good, the problem we have ahead of us is that we have to certify and trace,\u201d the UBA researcher adds. \u201cThere is work to be done and there are only a few years left, because without that we won\u2019t be able to sell to China, Europe, Russia or the United States \u2013 the markets that pay the best.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n ArreBeef\u2019s experience seems, for now, more the exception than the rule in Argentina, where the transition to a green economy faces many difficulties due to macroeconomic problems, as well as political discontinuities and a lack of coordination between the public and private sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn agriculture and livestock, Argentina has good parameters to compete, but everything is poorly measured and poorly mapped out. The state and the private sector must make an additional effort and generate strategies for this, because this is what the world is going to demand,\u201d Vilella said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2021, according to official data<\/a>, renewable energy sources covered 13% of the country\u2019s electricity demand. While wind (74%) and solar (13%) accounted for the largest shares of renewables, 6% came from bioenergy. At this rate, the country will fail to meet the goal of 20% green energy by 2025, as set out in national law 27.191<\/a>, according to Carlos Villalonga, a former member of the Chamber of Deputies and former director of Greenpeace Argentina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cArgentina will suffer from this low percentage of renewables,\u201d Villalonga says. \u201cThis will begin to affect exports because our companies will compete with others that will be able to show a lower carbon footprint, either through less deforestation associated with livestock, or through lower consumption of fossil fuels\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLess waste, less emissions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Plant](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/00ARRE-BEAF-80-scaled.jpg\")
<\/div>Timeline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Biogas](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/00ARRE-BEAF-14-scaled.jpg\")
<\/div>A model biodigester<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Waste](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/00ARRE-BEAF-31-scaled.jpg\")
<\/div>Near future<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/00ARRE-BEAF-36-scaled.jpg\")
<\/div>A slow transition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/00ARRE-BEAF-48-scaled.jpg\")
<\/div>