Publications
Publications
- December 2023
- HBS Case Collection
Raízen: Helping to Decarbonize the World?
By: Gunnar Trumbull, Pedro Levindo, Daniel Tong and Rafaella Mazza
Abstract
Raízen, the world’s largest sugar and ethanol producer, strived to find ways to expand the second-generation ethanol (E2G) market, which it pioneered. The company planned to invest R$24 billion (around $4.6 billion) in 20 production plants, with a total capacity to make approximately 1.6 billion liters of E2G. Paula Kovarsky, the company’s Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer, firmly believed that E2G was a readily available biofuel that could assist in the decarbonization of several industries, helping the world navigate the energy transition and achieve its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. Ethanol had already transformed Brazil, where flex-fuel vehicles dominated the streets. Raízen sought to prove that second-generation ethanol, made from a byproduct of sugarcane, that did not compete with food production, could do the same for the world, especially in hard to decarbonize sectors, such as aviation and shipping.
Keywords
Plant-Based Agribusiness; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Production; Expansion; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Energy Industry; Brazil; Europe; North America; United States; Argentina; Paraguay
Citation
Trumbull, Gunnar, Pedro Levindo, Daniel Tong, and Rafaella Mazza. "Raízen: Helping to Decarbonize the World?" Harvard Business School Case 724-014, December 2023.