Mitigating climate changes with biosolutions

Novozymes’ customers saved 45,000,000 tons of CO2 in 2011, because they used enzymes instead of traditional processes in their production. In this way, Novozymes’ solutions help address the severe problems of climate changes and global warming.

In a world that will inevitably consume more and more energy, we need to build a society in which economic growth has been decoupled from resource consumption and CO2 emissions. Biotechnology might be the solution to this problem as indicated in a report by WWF in 2009. The report concludes that industrial biotechnology is overlooked in the fight against climate change and calculates that the potential is between 1 and 2.5 billion tons of greenhouse gas reduction per year by 2030. Find the report and learn more about our engagements with NGOs.

Helping our customers reduce their CO2 with enzymes

Industrial companies can save energy by using enzymes instead of traditional processes and in this way achieve significant CO2 emission reductions, thus mitigating climate change. The LCA method calculates the carbon footprint of a product by documenting the environmental impacts during the entire life of the product (from cradle to grave).

Detergent: 100 kg CO2 per ton of laundry	Animal feed: 80 kg CO2 per ton of feed	Textile: 1100 kg CO2 per ton of fabric
Agriculture: 15 kg CO2 per ton of corn	Beverage: 25 kg CO2 per 1000 litre of beer	Paper making: 150 kg CO2 per ton of pulp
Vegetable oil: 40 kg CO2 per ton of oil	Cosmetics: 190 kg CO2 per ton of fatty acid ester	Corn ethanol: 890 kg of CO2 per 1000 litre of ethanol
Cereals: 110 kg CO2 per ton of bread	Leather: 100 kg CO2 per ton of hide	Corn stover ethanol: 1500 kg CO2 per litre of ethanol

CO2 savings within detergents

Detergent:
100 kg CO2
per ton of laundry

CO2 savings within animal feed

Animal feed:
80 kg CO2
per ton of feed

CO2 savings within the textile indiustry

Textile:
1100 kg CO2
per ton of fabric

Agriculture:

15 kg CO2

per ton of corn

Beverage:

25 kg CO2

per 1000 litre of beer

Paper making:

150 kg CO2

per ton of pulp

Vegetable oil:

40 kg CO2

per ton of oil

Cosmetics:

190 kg CO2

per ton of fatty acid ester

Corn ethanol:

890 kg of CO2

per 1000 litre of ethanol

Cereals:

110 kg CO2

per ton of bread

Leather:

100 kg CO2

per ton of hide

Corn stover ethanol:

1500 kg CO2

per litre of ethanol

Enzymes drive reductions in CO2 emissions across industries, but in particular these industries have great potential:

Fuel ethanol enzymes because they help save fossil fuels
Feed enzymes because they help save animal feed starch
Textile and brewing because they help save energy and raw materials in industrial production

See how much CO2 our customers have saved per industry by applying our enzymatic solutions, reduce carbon emissions and build green claims or see full list of LCAs for various industries.