What is Unilever & Nufarm’s Innovative Energy Cane Crop?
Unilever has joined forces with Nufarm, a pioneer in agricultural innovation, to explore a transformative approach in sustainable ingredient sourcing.
The collaboration focuses on developing a new variety of sugarcane, termed 'energy cane', intended for producing oils that could substitute petrochemical-based components widely used in cleaning products.
This initiative forms a crucial part of Unilever's broader strategy to slash its Scope 3 emissions and strive toward net zero emissions across its entire value chain, pushing the boundaries toward more sustainable industrial practices.
What is the potential of energy cane?
Energy cane stands apart from conventional crops. While most plants produce oil from seeds or fruits, energy cane leverages its entire structure—leaves and stems included.
These typically discarded parts are rich in fatty acids, which are key ingredients in many of Unilever’s detergents and personal care products. By utilising the full biomass of the plant, this innovation not only offers a sustainable source of oil but also significantly cuts down waste.
With more than a century's expertise, Nufarm excels in developing sustainable cropping technologies and has played a vital role in evolving energy cane.
Energy cane is noted for its robustness, thriving in harsh environments, enduring droughts, and helping prevent soil erosion. This crop is not only easy to harvest but also meets the modern agricultural demands, promising a sustainable cultivation option for farmers.
Unilever is capitalising on recent advances in biotechnology to scale up the development and commercialisation of this crop. Should these efforts prove successful, energy cane will represent the first biomass crop optimally engineered to produce plant-based oils for consumer goods on a vast scale.
By continuing to invest in biotechnology, we aim to further unlock the power of nature and build a more sustainable and diverse supply chain for the future.
This partnership enables us to identify alternative ingredients for our household, beauty and personal care brands, further supporting our ambition to reach net zero emissions across our value chain by 2039.
Advancing toward greener consumer products
The aim of this venture is to diminish the reliance on petrochemical-based substances, notorious for their substantial greenhouse gas emissions contributions.
Currently, raw materials are responsible for more than half of Unilever’s emissions. Crafting a viable, plant-based alternative could dramatically advance the company's mission to decarbonise its supply chain.
The versatility of energy cane extends beyond oil production, and the sugarcane variant is still capable of producing sugar, which could spearhead further biotechnological breakthroughs like enzyme and fragrance production. Even its residual plant fibres could potentially be transformed into raw materials for paper or packaging. This zero-waste approach aligns with Unilever and Nufarm's vision of setting new standards in sustainable agriculture, enhancing crop resilience while minimising environmental footprints.
Mapping the future of energy cane
Although still in the nascent stages focusing on research and development, the potentials of energy cane are immense.
Unilever aims to refine this crop to meet stringent sustainability demands, consequently helping diminish global greenhouse gas emissions. If energy cane achieves commercial success, it could redefine raw material sourcing for a multitude of industries, championing more sustainable practices that would benefit the environment and the agricultural community alike.
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