en.Wedoany.com Reported - PepsiCo has partnered with Spanish fertilizer company Fertiberia to promote green hydrogen fertilizer across Europe, covering approximately 400,000 acres of farmland and involving more than 1,500 farmers. This green hydrogen fertilizer will be used on farms supplying ingredients for brands such as Lay's, Doritos, and Cheetos, with the goal of replacing traditional fertilizers and reducing carbon emissions from agricultural production.

Under the agreement, Fertiberia will supply PepsiCo with up to 136,000 tonnes of Impact Zero green hydrogen fertilizer annually by 2030. This green hydrogen fertilizer is produced by replacing natural gas with green hydrogen, and according to Fertiberia, its greenhouse gas emissions are 63% lower than those from conventional processes. The product also includes slow-release formulations and biological inhibitors, which can improve soil nutrient retention. Previous pilots in Spain and Portugal showed a 20% reduction in emissions for corn cultivation and a 15% reduction for potato cultivation. The green hydrogen fertilizer will be used for crops such as potatoes, corn, sunflowers, sugar beets, and rapeseed.

The initiative will first launch in France, Romania, Serbia, Greece, and Turkey, and expand to Spain and Portugal. PepsiCo plans to extend it to more European countries in the coming years as farmer adoption increases. Combined with existing supplier agreements, low-carbon fertilizers could account for approximately 50% of its European supply chain by 2030. Currently, fertilizer production and application account for half of the carbon footprint of PepsiCo's European potatoes, while global fertilizer emissions represent about 2% of total greenhouse gases.

Archana Jagannathan, Chief Sustainability Officer for PepsiCo Europe, Middle East, and Africa, stated that shifting to low-carbon fertilizers like green hydrogen fertilizer is a powerful means of reducing agricultural emissions, and digital technologies can complement this transition. The two companies will provide farmers with technical guidance and precision agriculture tools, using data to optimize fertilizer application rates and timing, and track regenerative agriculture practices. Fertiberia has been developing low-carbon hydrogen-based fertilizers since 2022, and its product NSAFE is known as the world's first biological nitrification inhibitor, designed to prevent nitrogen loss.

This partnership supports PepsiCo's goal of implementing regenerative agriculture on 10 million acres globally by 2030, while also helping to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 3) by 30% against a 2022 baseline. The Portuguese farm Herdade da Malhadinha joined the pilot in 2024, using Impact Zero green hydrogen fertilizer on 30 acres of potatoes. The farm noted that the method is technically identical to traditional practices, requiring no changes to daily operations or the purchase of new equipment.

Further expansion of the program depends on the continued adoption of low-carbon solutions like green hydrogen fertilizer by farmers under real field conditions. This collaboration serves as a commercial-scale validation of whether green hydrogen fertilizer can be integrated into existing food supply chains without sacrificing crop yields or farm profitability. Its results could provide a reference for other agricultural sectors in Europe and influence fertilizer procurement decisions by global food manufacturing companies.

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