The forest masses managed by Ence reached a net positive carbon capture balance of more than 62,600 tons last year. This means that the mountains that Ence manages each year lead to the removal of more than 229,500 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, an amount equivalent to the Greenhouse Gas emissions that, on average, cause some 33,500 people in Spain each year. And it is similar to the amount that 170,000 private cars emit on average per year.
Through a detailed analysis of the forests managed by the company, the results of which have recently been validated by an independent entity, a positive net carbon balance of these forest masses has been verified. Its calculation has been made by adding all the carbon absorption caused by the growth of the trees, and subsequently subtracting the removals of wood and biomass, over the past year.
Thus, a positive net annual carbon balance implies that, during the study period, the forests managed by the company have removed more carbon from the atmosphere (by capturing CO2 molecules) than has been extracted from these forest stands in form of wood and biomass.
In total, 44,345 hectares have been studied, which represents 71% of the total net area managed by Ence. In this way, all those forest masses destined to supply wood and biomass have been analyzed. The rest, that surface whose purpose is conservation or other uses, such as cork extraction, has not been taken into account for this first analysis, as the necessary data is not available at the moment.
Outside the scope of this study is the Co2 captured by all those forest masses from which Ence, for the production of cellulose and the generation of renewable energy with biomass, uses its raw material, and which constitutes a very outstanding magnitude, directly related with the activity of the company. In this way, Ence contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (OSD) number 13 (Climate Action) and, specifically, to the mitigation of climate change through the sink effect of its forest masses.
Ence also seeks to offer solutions in the management of agroforestry waste for its energy recovery, avoiding diffuse emissions and reducing the danger of fires, one of the main threats to carbon sinks in Spain.
In addition, the company maintains a firm commitment to climate action and contributes to the mitigation of climate change, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions derived from its activity, and helping to decarbonize the electricity system through the generation of renewable energy in its biomass plants and in its biofactories in Navia (Asturias) and Pontevedra, surplus in renewable energy.
Continuing with this line, and to continue advancing towards the decarbonization of society, last year Ence established as a goal the reduction of emissions in its facilities: by 2025, it wants to reduce by 25% the specific emissions of scope 1 and 2 of its biofactories compared to 2018, the base year in which the company began to analyze its carbon footprint in an integrated way.
