BENEFITS & GOALS
Azure pursues sustainable business development through innovative design, socially affirmative business practices, and a reinvestment in charity. Azure makes meaningful contribution to 9 of the UN Sustainability Goals.
NO POVERTY
The base salary at Azure Renewables (annualized) is 1.8x higher than the regional median income and 3.2x higher than the regional income for agricultural workers.
GOOD HEALTH AND WELL BEING
El Viejo Azucarera understands the healthcare access difficulties that faced their employees and constructed a medical center at their production facility. This facility provides for routine medical examinations by medical professionals, an on‐staff nutritionist who assists employees and their families on a monthly basis, as well as the coordination of dental and emotional assistance programs. Azure Renewables will contribute, through its annual 3% Social and Sustainable program, to the on‐site El Viejo medical facility, to provide additional medical staff, equipment, and supplies.
AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY
The byproduct of Azure Renewables biochar generation is energy. As summarized above in the Sustainable Energy Generation section of this document. Excess power generated by Azure Renewables shall be given to other industries within the industrial park to offset current utility generation by burning diesel fuel or bunker fuel and/or, offered as an inducement for new sustainable business to locate within the industrial park, who would otherwise not be able to do so as result of high electricity prices. Businesses wishing to receive free power from Azure Renewables must demonstrate a commitment to sustainability and social responsibility.
DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
Azure Renewables biochar and clean energy facility augments the cyclical employment gap for agricultural workers, in addition to providing base pay 3.2x (±) higher than regional employers. As is the case with many residents of rural areas, employment is dictated by the planting, harvesting, and grinding seasons. The Azure Renewables biochar and clean energy facility operate year‐round, offering consistent uninterrupted employment opportunities.
INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
The technology deployed by Azure Renewables shall be the first of its kind in Costa Rica. Pyrolysis technology has been deployed worldwide, however it has yet to be utilized in Costa Rica. Costa Rica’s abundant agricultural economy provides for a resilient and voluminous supply of feedstock guaranteeing the longevity of Azure’s industrial processes.
CLIMATE ACTION
The imperative for Azure to act in reducing greenhouse emissions in Costa Rica is absolute. At full production capacity, Azure would offset 618,919 tons of CO₂annually in Costa Rica; accounting for a reduction of CO₂ equivalent to approximately 7.43% of the nation’s annual CO₂ emissions (WorldOMeter, n.d.) . Seldom can any singular industrial scale activity augment such a large percentage of a nations CO₂ emissions; exponentially affirmatively impact the nation through socially affirmative workplace conditions, attracting tangential industry, and promoting environmental and socially inclusive stewardship.
LIFE BELOW WATER
Coastal eutrophication due to agricultural runoff is amongst the largest adverse impacts to coastal zones worldwide. The increase in nutrients exacerbate already problematic oceanic conditions by contributing to harmful algae blooms, zones of hypoxia (or anoxia), and loss of biodiversity. Azure’s production of biochar as a soil amendment, amongst its many benefits, increases water retention within the substrate, due largely to the porous nature of Azure biochar, and coupled with the organic nutrient enhancements of Azure biochar, farmers require less irrigation of their fields and less chemically created fertilizers. By extension thereof, rainwater is more effectively retained within the fields and what little runoff there may be, contains less harmful chemicals; thusly affirmatively contributing to cleaner inland waterways and coastal regions.
LIFE ON LAND
The United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) in their 2020 publication (Lima & White, p. 2020), determined that the application of biochar as a soil amendment, amongst other benefits, increased crop yield for the applied area, by approximately twenty percent in addition to increasing sugar volume of the cane plant by twenty percent. Thusly, crops amended with biochar generate higher yields with less land. Concordantly, the use of biochar economically incentivizes producers to use less land (lower irrigation cost, reduction of chemical fertilizers, etc.). Thus, the application of biochar contributes to the reduction of deforestation for the benefit of farmland. In addition, thereto, as part of Azure’s 3% plan, annual purchases of farmland by Azure shall be repopulated with native flora to encourage the repopulation of native plant and animal species. As a matter of adhering to the mandate of the fifteenth SDG, Azure reverses land degradation, promotes the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, and contributes to the recovery of ecosystems.
GIVING BACK
TO THE ENVIRONMENT
3% SOCIAL AND SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM
The ethos of Azure Renewables is sustainability. The operational effect of Azure Renewables biochar production provides for a substantial beneficial impact in the reduction of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, it is not the intention of Azure Renewables management to conclude Azure Renewables sustainability contribution with CO₂ mitigation. Azure Renewables intends to take a highly progressive approach to aid in the betterment of not only the environment but also the general well-being of its inhabitants. As such, the 3% Social and Sustainability Program has been established and incorporated into the by‐laws of Azure Renewables to ensure good corporate stewardship for years to come.
This program allocates three percent (3%) of gross revenue, as received, into a trust, to be allocated quarterly to organizations and causes that fulfill the mission of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”). This allocation, as a matter of accounting, is calculated as an operational expenditure and not as a voluntary set aside to mitigate future taxable income. Point in fact, Azure Renewables is located within a free trade zone and this three percent annual contribution has no beneficial impact on the reduction of taxes, it is done so within the spirit of true charity and seeks no reciprocal gain from doing so.
AZURE REWILDING PROGRAM
Under the direction of the Director of Sustainability, Azure Renewables will invest in repairing damaged ecosystems through the reintroduction of native flora and fauna on degraded landscapes. The premise behind this program is relatively simple, Azure Renewables shall purchase tracts of land, reintroduce native plant species, and then leave the land alone to naturally heal, allowing nature’s natural rhythms to create more biodiverse habitats. This land shall be set aside in a trust, expressly disallowing any future development, sale, or use of the property. Land acquisition strategy shall be directed towards the purchase of abandoned farms and pastureland, as well as tracts of land adjacent to suburban sprawl, effectively blocking the encroachment of residential development on the natural habitats of native species.
1% FOR THE PLANET
1% for the Planet is an international charity, organized as a 501(c)(3) under the United States Tax Code; whose members contribute at least one percent (1%) of their annual gross revenue to environmental causes. Founded in 2002 by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and his partner Craig Mathews, founder of Blue Ribbon Flies, 1% for the Planet aggregates contributions and directs all donations to sustainability-oriented not for profits.