In 2014, we invested more heavily in environmental protection. Of the R$7.4 million invested, 79% went to preventive actions and 21% to waste disposal and treatment of emissions. The ICT segment accounted for 50% of this amount, and about R$3 million was invested in projects with cleaner technologies, such as LED energy efficiency project at Algar Telecom and the installation of photovoltaic panels at Algar Tech. The Tourism segment contributed 22%, or R$1.5 million, 79% of which went to prevention costs and environmental management. In turn, the Agro sector accounted for 21% of the total amount, 69% or R$873 million of which was spent on waste collection, treatment and disposal.

The Algar Group has become a sustainability benchmark in Brazil for its standards, principles and initiatives undertaken throughout the value chain. In the ICT segment, Algar Telecom was considered a Model Company in Sustainability in Telecommunications by the Exame Sustainability Guide for two straight years, 2013 and 2014. Rio Quente Resorts was also featured in the Exame Sustainability Guide in recent years – in 2013, among the 61 outstanding companies, and in 2014, as the Best in the Hotel Industry. (Learn more prizes in Awards and recognition).

Energy Consumption

Year by year, we have been monitoring energy consumption within the Group more and more accurately, which allows us to work in a more effective and targeted manner. We prioritize the use of energy from renewable sources in our activities to protect the environment and reduce pollution from burning fossil fuels.

Overall, the Group increased direct energy consumption by 25% year-over-year in 2014. However, it should be noted that it also increased the use of renewable energy sources by 62% while decreasing the use of non-renewable sources by 31%.

The Agribusiness segment, which accounts for 80% of the Group’s energy consumption, introduced biomass as an energy source at the plants in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais State, and Porto Franco, Maranhão State, thus reducing the use of non-renewable fuels. Algar Farming renewed its farm fleet by more efficient vehicles and reduced the consumption of diesel oil.

In ICT segment, we mostly use ethanol fuel in the fleet and undertake awareness-raising initiatives among associates. In addition, we have programs such as Carona Legal, which encourages carpooling to reduce fuel consumption. In Services, Algar Aviation decreased energy consumption 16% by reducing aviation fuel consumption in the same proportion owing to a drop in the number of flights and the sale of an airplane. Algar Segurança reduced energy consumption by about 38% mainly due to the measures adopted to optimize the use of vehicles, resulting in lower consumption by the company’s own fleet.

Concerning electricity, the initiatives to reduce power consumption range from replacing equipment, such as computer monitors and air conditioners, by more modern and efficient models and installing LED bulbs in a large number of offices to introducing photovoltaic panels. At Algar Telecom, we installed 28 photovoltaic panels in one of the company’s main sites, in Uberlândia, thus reducing by 60% its annual indirect energy consumption. At Rio Quente Resorts, we also installed thermal solar panels to heat shower water. Algar Farming also reduced power consumption significantly on its farms. The company recorded a 23% decrease in electricity consumption in relation to 2013, due to more efficient use of irrigation pivots on Gaia and Canada farms, in Minas Gerais State.

Emissions

Our commitment to managing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions serves as a guideline for our companies’ initiatives to incorporate sustainability into all our decision-making processes. This is how we manage risks and develop initiatives to reduce GHG emissions and offset their environmental impact.

The GHG inventory is our primary tool to find opportunities to reduce GHG emissions in our processes and operations. We use internationally recognized methodologies to measure our emissions. We collect data systemically by following the standards set forth by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s GHG Protocol; the IPCC 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories and ABNT NBR ISO 14064-1/2006.

We decided to adopt the operational control approach; therefore, we include in the inventory emissions from all organizations and production units we control, even if jointly with other parties. We have been measuring our GHG emissions since 2011 (base year 2010) through a process that involves from associates in technical functions to executives.

Biodiversity

The area in which the Rio Quente Resorts are located has a high biodiversity value. It is adjacent to the Serra de Caldas Novas State Park, in Goiás State, and has the world’s largest hot spring, with rich and highly diverse flora and fauna.

Rio Quente Resorts introduced the Natural Resources Management Program and the Program to Recover and Monitor Permanent Preservation Area, with the measures needed to restore the environmental functionality of areas affected by human activity, to undertake initiatives that help protect, and reduce the consumption of, the natural resources found in and in the vicinity of its area of operation. Over 12,000 seedlings have been planted since the programs were introduced in 2010. In addition, 605 seedlings of tree species native to the Cerrado Biome have been planted to regenerate the vegetation of a 17.8-hectare area of damaged land. Moreover, it has a Fauna Monitoring Program, which comprises a systematic semi-annual survey of fauna and flora. The company’s purpose is to learn about the local biodiversity and assess the biological potential of the area.

Description of impacts on biodiversity – 2014 ¹

Unit	Rio Quente
Geographic location	17°46'26.90"S – 48°45'3.54"W
Subsurface and/or underground soil (sq. m.)	2,223,401.90
Size of operational site in sq. km.	78.38

¹ Protected area within the Company’s area

Rational Consumption of Water

One of the hot issues currently is the conscious consumption of water, about which Algar has always been concerned. This concern is reflected in most of the Group's fixed assets, which are mostly built by using economical construction methods or techniques that allow reusing and obtaining water as alternative and sustainable practices.

The Rio Quente Resorts complex already had a water reuse system. In 2014, we finished the project to reuse thermal water by implementing a system that captures water discharged in Parque das Fontes [Spings Park], a total of 43.05 liters per second. The secondary water pumped into existing tanks. The water is then treated and used in the parks, hotels, laundry rooms and gardens. The gardens in parks and hotels are watered automatically, which helps produce water savings of up to 50% in relation to the manual system.

In turn, the Algar Agro uses groundwater, surface water and water from municipal supplies. Algar Farming’ farms have 37 authorized water intake points and 13 others are under analysis by SUPRAM (Superintendência Regional de Regularização Ambiental, or Regional Environmental Regularization Office). Algar Agro invested R$1 million in upgrading its Effluent Treatment Plant in Uberlândia, which is soon to be completed. Once it is finished, we will be able to reuse water used in internal gardens, for example.

To raise awareness among associates, customers and suppliers, UniAlgar ran a campaign in 2014, focused mainly on the use of water to clean the facilities and in the gardens. Algar Telecom’s CICA (Comissão Interna de Conservação de Água, or Internal Water Conservation Committee), responsible for identifying the units with higher consumption and develop initiatives to tackle waste, managed to reuse 2% of the water.