With Mitsubishi Corporation's partnership, Terviva marks a key milestone in the advancement of a pongamia tree-based business platform that sinks carbon, improves small-holder livelihoods, and creates a new source for biofuel and food.
ALAMEDA, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 12, 2023 / Terviva, an agriculture innovation company, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a partnership agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), one of the world's most influential businesses. In conjunction with this partnership agreement, MC has also provided financing to Terviva.
Terviva works with local communities to harvest beans from the pongamia tree to produce oil and protein-rich meal. Pongamia is a subtropical legume tree with unique qualities that make it particularly suited to a climate-changing world. Terviva seeks to create transparent and equitable supply chains of pongamia trees in subtropical regions of the world, using reforestation, agroforestry and orchard models. Pongamia is an environmentally sustainable tree crop that adds nitrogen to the soil, stores carbon, requires little to no fertilizer or pesticides, and does not require tilling. Native bees and other pollinators thrive on the pongamia tree's flowers, thereby supporting local biodiversity. From one acre, Terviva's pongamia trees can potentially provide the same amount of oil from four acres of U.S. soybeans.
The MC - Terviva partnership is rooted in the companies' shared target for a decarbonized future throughout the world. Through this partnership, Terviva and MC will bring crude pongamia oil to the liquid fuels market as a first-of-its-kind of biofuel feedstock. Crude pongamia oil is a second-generation feedstock with a low carbon intensity score produced through a sustainable and transparent supply chain. As a feedstock, it has the capacity to be seamlessly converted into biodiesel, renewable diesel, or sustainable aviation fuel. The oil is ISCC Plus & EU Certified and the wild harvest supply chain and crush production meet RED II and global sustainability criteria. Combined, these accolades make Terviva's crude pongamia oil among the most sustainable feedstocks, with a similar carbon intensity to used cooking oil. Together, MC and Terviva will put their robust networks and expertise to work for this climate-resilient tree.
"Addressing climate change and reducing GHG emissions with the aim of contributing to achieve a decarbonized circular society are our high-priority initiatives. The pongamia tree can be a transformational crop to realize a carbon-neutral and sustainable society. With its strong intellectual property and existing operations, Terviva has exceptional potential to be a business that significantly benefits the environment and local communities who engage in the supply chain of pongamia. We are excited to collaborate with Terviva to establish a supply chain for next-generation fuels and grow together with local communities, while reducing its environmental footprint," stated MC.
"MC is an influential partner that has the long-term vision to make a super-tree like pongamia truly scalable and impactful," said Naveen Sikka, founder and CEO of Terviva. "With MC by our side, Terviva can focus on what we do best: creating elite cultivars to get higher yields and superior products from the pongamia tree, supporting local communities where the tree grows, and applying our patented processes to making the oils and meal into ultra-high quality biofuel feedstocks, animal feeds and ultimately food."
ABOUT MITSUBISHI CORPORATION
MC engages in a wide range of businesses spanning multiple industries and is overseen by its Industry DX Group, Next-Generation Energy Business Group and 10 industry-specific business groups: Natural Gas, Industrial Materials, Chemicals, Mineral Resources, Industrial Infrastructure, Automotive & Mobility, Food Industry, Consumer Industry, Power Solution, and Urban Development.
ABOUT TERVIVA
Terviva is a regenerative agriculture innovation company partnering with smallholders and farmers to grow pongamia, a climate-resilient tree which helps to reforest land and revitalize communities. After more than a decade of innovation, the company has created an equitable and transparent supply chain from which it harvests and transforms pongamia beans into bioenergy and sustainable food ingredients called Ponova®. Learn more at terviva.com.
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Teal Minisofer
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Teal Minisofer
teal@zerotrillion.com
SOURCE: Terviva
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