Changing the game
Green fertilizers will be a game changer: we cannot decarbonize the food value chain without them. Yara’s premium fertilizers already have a low carbon footprint. But today fertilizer production still relies on fossil fuels. We’re changing that.
Already next year Yara will bring to market fossil free, green fertilizers produced using renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels. They will essentially be made with water and air. That means these green fertilizers will have an 80-90 percent lower carbon footprint than fertilizers produced with natural gas.
Turning potato chips climate friendly in Argentina
Yara has signed a memorandum of understanding with El Parque Papas to deliver fossil free green fertilizers to the biggest potato farmer in Argentina. This marks an important step towards making one of the most popular snacks in the country climate friendly.
El Parque Papas is the biggest singular potato farmer in Argentina, led by Walter Hernández, a famous racing car champion. He is now the first farmer in the world to commit to buying green fertilizer directly from Yara. His company supplies 14,000 metric tons of potatoes every year to the Argentinian potato industry, including production of some of the most popular chips in the country.
Using Yara's green fertilizers for potato production will remove around between 20-30% of greenhouse gas emissions at the farm level. For potato chips as an end product, the use of using green fertilizer will reduce the carbon footprint by around 5-10%.
Benefits for all players across the food chain
Yara’s green fertilizers are a fossil free, impactful and effortless way to decarbonize food production.
Fossil free: reducing our dependency on fossil fuels
Switching to green fertilizers made with renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels will enable us to decarbonize the food system and achieve a fossil free food chain. This will help us build a more robust, resilient food system that is less dependent on fossil fuels and bring us closer to a nature-positive food future.
Impactful: lowering the climate footprint of our food
With fossil free, green fertilizers, we can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of farming – and food – all in one go.
Yara's fossil free green fertilizers will
Reduce the carbon footprint of
wheat by around 20%
Reduce the carbon footprint of
bread by around 12%
Switching to green fertilizers will reduce the carbon footprint of certain crops by between 10 and 30 percent and, for example, by around 20 percent for wheat.
That means green fertilizers will also have the power to reduce the environmental impact of the food we eat – and give consumers more sustainable food choices. The carbon footprint of many food products can be reduced by between 10 and 20 percent and, for example, by 12 percent for bread.
Effortless: a climate measure that’s easy to implement
Yara’s green fertilizers are the same product as our nitrate-based mineral fertilizers – just with a much lower climate impact. That means farmers will get the same quality and yield for their crops without having to change the way they farm.
These fossil free fertilizers will also help food companies reduce their carbon footprint and reach their climate pledges without needing to make any changes to their supply chains or operations.
Together Yara and Lantmännen are leading the way
Together with Lantmännen, northern Europe’s leading agricultural cooperative, we signed the first commercial agreement for fossil free green fertilizers.
The fertilizers will be incorporated into Lantmännen’s Climate & Nature program, which makes it profitable for farmers to adopt more sustainable farming practices. Yara’s green fertilizers are an important addition in the further development of the program, enabling Lantmännen to establish a fossil free value chain from field to fork.
Through the Climate & Nature program, Lantmännen has already reduced the climate footprint from wheat cultivation by up to 30 percent since 2015. With green fertilizers included in the program, the climate impact will be reduced even further by 20 percentage points.
“There are huge opportunities to decarbonize if we find business models that enable each step of the value chain to contribute and to benefit. This is why the agreement between Yara and Lantmännen is important; we show that this can be done.”
Svein Tore Holsether
President & CEO of Yara
Collaborating to address climate change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report was very clear: Code Red for humanity. There is no alternative to decarbonization – we either have a low carbon future or we’ll have no future.
To decarbonize the food system, which accounts for a significant amount of global greenhouse emissions, and to deliver on the Paris Agreement, we need green fertilizers. They are also an important step to achieve our mission to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet.
Because switching to green fertilizers will reduce the carbon footprint of crops and food by 10-30 percent all in one go without the need to change any practices or processes, they are an important part of the solution to decarbonize the food chain.
In addition, Yara provides crop nutrition solutions, precision farming and digital tools so farmers can further optimize yields, produce healthier crops and protect the soil, while also reducing their carbon footprint. But we can’t do this alone. All players along the food chain need to work together to realize a sustainable food system.
