Introduction to the Greenergy bioethanol sustainability criteria for ...

Introduction to the Greenergy bioethanol
sustainability criteria for Brazilian sugarcane
Greenergy’s involvement in the development and implementation of
bioethanol certification
As the RTFO structure was developed it became clear that there would be no benchmarked
sustainable production standard for sugarcane by the time the obligation was introduced in April
2008. This was also the case for two other major biofuel feedstocks, palm and soy, but in both
cases the process for the development of an international standard was more advanced.
As the Better Sugarcane initiative (BSI) was still at a relatively early stage of development,
Greenergy believed that it could best contribute to the development process by demonstrating in
practice what could be achieved.
The Greenergy interpretation of the UK RTFO Sustainable Biofuel
Meta-Standard for Brazilian sugarcane
The Greenergy interpretation for Brazilian sugarcane is an adaptation of the RTFO sustainable
meta-standard for biofuels, specifically for the Brazilian ethanol context.
It is not a substitute for an international standard. Neither this interpretation nor the RTFO Meta-

Standard have been developed with sufficient stakeholder involvement to be a substitute for the
process required in the development of an international standard.
The process of interpreting the meta-standard was led by ProForest, an organisation with wide
experience in standard development. A two-day technical meeting was held in Sao Paulo in March
2008, with attendees from industry, academia, certification bodies and NGOs whose expertise
covered social, environmental and production aspects of sugarcane.
As part of the development process, two field tests were undertaken, one as part of the initial
drafting stage and one subsequent to the technical meeting. The interpretation was also peer
reviewed by WWF Brazil and UTZ certified (an organisation with certification and biofuel expertise),
prior to finalisation.
While the level of stakeholder input is not sufficient to act as a substitute for an international multistakeholder
standard, the process followed by Greenergy allowed the generic meta-standard to
be adapted to the Brazilian context and used in practice.
Next steps
Greenergy will actively support the development of the Better Sugarcane Initiative Standard and
its third Party certification.
Until such time as a credible robust international standard exists Greenergy will continue to audit
its supplies to our current standard.