Waste from the agricultural industry can generate carbon credits.

Orange peels, apple pomace, coffee grounds, sugarcane straw, and açaí seeds. Transforming daily waste from the food industry into renewable energy is a way to convert environmental liabilities into a source of revenue and promote decarbonization. To make this potential visible and accessible to everyone, researchers at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) developed the Biomass_Compensa Calculator, a computer program that quantifies both the avoided carbon footprint and the carbon credits potentially generated from the treatment of agro-industrial organic waste.

With an intuitive interface and calculations based on scientific data, the software can be used by companies, engineers, researchers, or anyone interested in the subject, without the need for specialized technical knowledge, to assess environmental impacts, calculate carbon credits, and prepare sustainability reports. In addition to reducing the time and potential costs of complex analyses, the tool contributes to strengthening sustainability and decarbonization policies.

The program is the result of a project conducted at the Bioengineering, Water and Waste Treatment Laboratory (Biotar), coordinated by Professor Tânia Forster Carneiro, from the Faculty of Food Engineering (FEA), in collaboration with Professor Hudson Giovani Zanin, from the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering (FEEC). It involved the participation of researchers Manoel Victor Frutuoso Barrionuevo, Josiel Martins Costa, Larissa Ampese, and Henrique Ziero, all affiliated with FEA; Eric Gama Felix da Silva, from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering (FEQ); and Reinaldo Cesar, from the Center for Engineering and Petroleum Studies (Cepetro).

From data stacks to online carbon calculators

The technology was born from a practical observation in the laboratory. Over years of guiding master's and doctoral dissertations and theses on the valorization of organic waste, Professor Tânia Forster accumulated a dense database: experiments with apple pomace, orange peel, jaboticaba peel, cambuci fruit, beer malt pomace, poultry waste, and even açaí seeds from small producers in Pará.

Each study precisely calculated how much biogas a given waste product would produce in an anaerobic digester, and how that biogas would be converted into electrical energy, heat, or biomethane. However, the researchers noted that these results had a much greater potential impact, which could extend beyond the academic environment. For them, it was strategic to transform this technical knowledge into an accessible tool, allowing the value generated in the laboratory to reach society in a clear way.

“The calculator was created to centralize data scattered across academic theses. If the owner of a restaurant, a small food processing plant, or an agribusiness wants to assess the feasibility of producing biogas and bioelectrical or thermal energy from their biomass, the tool offers a quick, accurate, and scientifically based answer,” explains Forster.

The solution was to gather all this scientific production into an intuitive computer program, freely accessible via the internet, without the need for installation or knowledge of technical jargon. The first result was the Biomass2Biogas Calculator, software that calculates the energy potential of these residues. Subsequently, the program was expanded, giving rise to the Biomass_Compensa calculator, focused exclusively on the carbon footprint and potential carbon credits generated by biomass treatment.

To develop the carbon footprint computer program, the team used methodological references and equivalence models to convert tons of waste into understandable metrics, such as the number of trees planted, hours of international flight, or cars taken off the road. The technical development involved students with backgrounds in engineering and programming.

How does the Unicamp carbon calculator work?

The user selects the type of waste, enters the quantity (in tons) they wish to treat, and instantly receives an estimate of avoided emissions, expressed in carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalent. They also have access to an estimate of carbon credits generated. Currently, the system includes waste such as apple pomace, orange peel, sugarcane, açaí seeds, and byproducts of the coffee industry. Other comparisons in the calculator show how many cars would be taken off the roads, how many hours of international flights would be offset, or how many trees would need to be planted to achieve the same effect.

Treating the waste and converting the resulting methane gas into energy, the researcher explains, represents a significantly higher carbon credit than that obtained through conventional reforestation. After all, methane is the main biogas produced by the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter in landfills, with a global warming potential around 29 times greater than carbon dioxide, considering the impact over 100 years (GWP100).

"When you treat waste, you prevent methane from being released into the atmosphere. This can generate a permanent carbon credit that is more cost-effective than planting trees from a technical standpoint, since methane has a warming potential about 29 times greater than CO₂, and the quantification of avoided methane is technologically more precise compared to quantification done through tree planting. So the name of the calculator, 'Biomass Pays Off,' has a double meaning: it pays off to treat the waste, and it pays off more than other forms of carbon credit," explains the professor.

A gap in the market: agricultural waste.

The distinguishing feature of the Biomassa_Compensa calculator compared to other software available on the market is its specific focus: residual biomass from the food processing industry, such as fruit peels, seeds, and bagasse, filling a gap left by other calculators that are more focused on animal waste, biofuels, and agricultural commodities.

For industry, the tool can serve as a guide for decision-making regarding investments in treatment infrastructure. By visualizing that sugarcane bagasse or coffee production waste can become financial assets, whether through the carbon market or by generating savings on energy bills, companies find economic viability for environmentally sustainable practices.

Furthermore, the technology anticipates a regulatory need. Today, most of the waste from the food processing industry goes to landfills. Professor Tânia estimates that, as environmental regulations advance and the disposal of organic waste in landfills becomes more restrictive, the scenario will change radically.

"The food industry generates a massive volume of biomass in its production processes. With the future restriction on sending this waste to landfills, there will be a boom in investments in carbon credits. Technologies such as composting and anaerobic digestion will be key to treatment and the transition towards biofuel production. It is precisely in this scenario that our calculator makes a difference," he assesses.

The potential impact ranges from large fruit pulp industries, which generate tons of peels daily, to restaurants, small agro-industries, and rural producers who process raw materials locally. For a medium-sized restaurant or a juice producers' cooperative, the calculator can indicate whether the volume of waste generated justifies the investment in a biodigester and how much electricity or gas the system would produce, for example.

Open technology available for expansion.

Currently, the Biomass_Compensation and Biomass2Biogas calculators are publicly available on the Biotar laboratory website. For sustainability managers, those responsible for emissions inventories, or professionals in the carbon credit market, Biomass_Compensation offers a quick and scientifically sound screening tool to assess the valorization potential of residual biomass and make more informed investment decisions.

For companies wishing to customize the software with proprietary data, expand the list of analyzed waste materials, or integrate the tool into their environmental management systems, technology licensing is the recommended approach. The technology transfer process is mediated by the Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency.

According to the project coordinator, there is interest in new collaborations that would allow for expanding the reach of the calculators and training human resources capable of leading the energy and environmental transition in the country.

"If a company is interested in a customized version of the calculator for its specific waste materials, such as banana peels or waste from a particular fruit, we can discuss how to develop that," says Forster.

How to license a technology at Unicamp

Inova provides a technological showcase in Unicamp's Technology Portfolio. Companies and public or private institutions can license intellectual property developed at Unicamp, with or without exclusivity, such as patents, plant varieties, trademarks, computer programs, and know-how. Requests should be submitted via the "Connecting with Companies" form. To learn about cases of Unicamp technology licensing, visit the Inova website.