Introducing Our New LCA / Carbon Team
At Blue North Sustainability, we are thrilled to announce the launch of our new life cycle analysis (LCA) and carbon accounting team! This talented group of experts has been assembled to help our clients navigate the complex world of carbon and achieve their sustainability goals. Our new carbon team perfectly complements Blue North’s offering which is aimed at strengthening the resilience of businesses, supply-chains, industries, and sectors that have large primary agriculture “footprints”. Blue North’s portfolio of work now includes its suite of online sustainability solutions, its bespoke consulting projects, which includes the carbon team, and Monitoring & Evaluation engagements.
Our new carbon team specialises in a range of carbon related topics, including LCA, carbon footprinting, carbon sequestration methodologies, science-based targets, and more. They bring a plethora of expertise in these fields and a deep understanding of the latest industry best practice and innovations:
Eddie Vienings (Chief Operating Officer):
BEng (Industrial Engineering); MBA; qualified TOC Practitioner.
Eddie is a founding partner and Chief Operating Officer of Blue North. He has extensive experience in the agriculture industry, specifically around research and primary data collection in operations within the grain, fruit, wine, and biofuel sectors. Eddie sits on the steering committees of various fruit and wine industry programmes, most notably the Packhouse Action Group (PAG) and Confronting Climate Change (CCC). Eddie is an experienced senior consultant who has successfully managed sustainability projects with clients across South Africa and globally. He has a specific interest in environmental sustainability, risk assessment, and continuous improvement from a supply-chain point of view.
Karlien Heyns (LCA Engineer):
BEng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering); MEng (Industrial Engineering).
Karlien is the LCA & carbon footprinting lead and a consultant at Blue North. She heads the carbon consulting workstream which focusses on corporate and product carbon footprinting, and life cycle assessments. Before leading her own workstream, she was a key role player in the CCC team, where she was responsible for data collection support to clients, data analysis, benchmark calculations, and reporting. Karlien is proficient in Open LCA.
Yakim Cronje (LCA Engineer):
BEng (Chemical Engineering); MEng (Chemical Engineering).
Yakim joined the Blue North team in 2023 as LCA Engineer. She completed a BEng and an MEng in chemical engineering. Her MEng research focus was on the techno-economic and greenhouse gas analyses of various energy self-sufficient biorefinery process simulations of adipic acid from sugarcane bagasse and molasses feedstocks. She brings a unique skillset to the team due to her knowledge of mass and energy balances and the biorefinery concept.
Lisa Matthews (Carbon Consultant):
BScAgric (Plant and Soil Sciences); MScAgric (Agronomy).
Lisa joined the Blue North team in 2023 as Carbon Consultant. She recently completed her MSc in Agronomy, where her research project focused on carbon footprinting dryland grain systems in the Swartland, and investigating the effect of diverse crop rotations systems that include cover crops or incorporate livestock. Lisa’s interests include food systems and food security, agroecology, urban agriculture, circular economy, and other ways agricultural systems can become more sustainable to both people and the planet.
To learn more about how our new carbon team can help your organisation, please contact us today. Whether you are looking to reduce your business’s carbon footprint, achieve carbon neutrality, set science-based targets, or just make your operations more sustainable, our team is here to help. They can provide guidance and support throughout the entire process, from setting goals and developing strategies, to implementing solutions and tracking progress.
We look forward to working with you!
