BASF reaffirms ambitious climate protection goals and takes steps to reduce product carbon footprint

● In 2030, carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced by 25% compared with 2018, and global carbon dioxide emissions will be net-zero by 20501

● By 2030, 100% of BASF's 2021 global electricity demand will come from renewable energy sources

● BASF is ready to offer its customers the first products with net zero emissions and a minimal carbon footprint

BASF recently reaffirmed its ambitious climate protection goals since its first statement a year ago
.
In sharing an update on its climate neutrality roadmap with investors and financial analysts, BASF confirmed that it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030 compared to 2018 levels and achieve its goal of net-zero global emissions by 2050
.
In an effort to reduce global carbon emissions to 16.
4 million tons by 2030, the BASF Group is publishing an annual forecast of carbon dioxide emissions, which may be in error by around 500,000 tons
.

Dr.
Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Executive Board of BASF Europe, said: "Europe is facing a brutal war with far-reaching consequences for people and the economy
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At the same time, we must not ignore this era.
The biggest global challenge - climate change
.
A large number of projects are currently being implemented across the BASF Group to further significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions and achieve our ambitious climate goals
.
Through cooperation with raw material suppliers, we are also taking steps to reduce Product-related carbon emissions
.
In this way, we are driving transformation and supporting customers in reducing carbon emissions across their product portfolio
.
”

Renewable energy as the main driver of emission reduction

Despite a substantial increase in production in 2021, BASF's CO2 emissions were around 3 percent lower than in 2020, largely due to increased use of renewable energy
.
Until 2025, the use of electricity from renewable sources will be the main driver for BASF's reduction in emissions
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In 2021, electricity from renewable sources will account for 16% of the BASF Group's global electricity demand
.
The company expects 100% of its global electricity demand in 2021 to be met by renewable electricity by 2030
.

In order to meet its demand for renewable energy, BASF is taking the decision of owning and purchasing, which includes investing in the company's own renewable energy assets, as well as purchasing renewable energy power from third parties
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BASF has acquired a stake in Vattenfall's HollandseKust Zuid (HKZ) wind farm in 2021
.
Once fully operational, it will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world with a total installed capacity of 1.
5 GW
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The project is expected to be fully operational in 2023
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In addition, BASF has signed a 25-year European Renewable Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with ENGIE and Ørsted to supply large amounts of renewable electricity from wind and solar in Europe
.
In the United States, BASF has signed long-term wind and solar supply contracts for its Freeport and Pasadena production sites
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In China, BASF signed agreements with suppliers to procure renewable energy for its new integrated site in Zhanjiang, Guangdong
.

In an updated statement with investors, BASF outlined the various measures the company is implementing at various locations to achieve its corporate climate goals
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These measures depend to a large extent on the specific local conditions of each base
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Ludwigshafen: Development of new technologies and implementation of new steam supply concepts

At present, about 50% of the steam demand at the Ludwigshafen site comes from the steam production process, which emits a lot of carbon dioxide, and a new method is to use electricity to produce steam
.
BASF is working with Siemens Energy on the first project at a polyethylene unit, using heat pumps and water vapour recompression to boost waste heat to generate steam power to supply the entire site's steam network
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The integration of this heat pump project not only produces about 60 tons of steam per hour, but also avoids about 160,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year and reduces cooling water consumption by more than 20 million cubic meters
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The technology is scheduled to be operational in the second quarter of 2024, and day-to-day operational experience will be accumulated through the project to simplify future rollout at other sites
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Another project at the Ludwigshafen site is the development of an electrically heated steam cracker
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Currently, cracking furnaces are heated by gas and produce about 1 ton of carbon dioxide per ton of olefins
.
BASF has signed an agreement with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and the Linde group to develop and test an electrically heated steam cracker
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The three parties are evaluating the construction of a multi-megawatt demonstration plant at the Ludwigshafen site, and once the necessary funding is approved, the project could start as soon as 2023
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At the same time, BASF is also developing a new zero-carbon hydrogen production technology from methane pyrolysis
.

Antwerp: Wants to be the first integrated site to achieve net zero emissions by 2030

BASF's integrated base in Antwerp is the largest chemical production base in Belgium and the second largest integrated base in the world after Ludwigshafen
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BASF wants to reduce CO2 emissions from the integrated site to nearly net zero by 2030, from 3.
8 million tonnes in 2021
.
This goal can be achieved through the introduction of renewable electricity from offshore wind farms, combined with the deployment of new low-emission technologies and the planned large-scale "Carbon Capture and Storage" (CCS) project in the port of Antwerp
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Once this goal is achieved, the integrated site in Antwerp will be the first petrochemical production site to achieve net zero emissions by 2030
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Given the tight schedule, these measures will simultaneously face challenges and require political support to establish the right framework conditions
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Zhanjiang: Planned to be a leader in sustainable development from the very beginning

Zhanjiang will become BASF's third largest integrated base in the world
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Compared to petrochemical bases powered by natural gas, Zhanjiang's advanced integration concept and use of renewable energy play an important role in helping it significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions
.
It can be seen that the use of renewable energy power to replace fossil fuels is the key
.

BASF recently signed a 25-year renewable energy cooperation framework agreement with China State Power Investment Corporation in accordance with the Guangdong Province Renewable Energy Trading Rules to purchase renewable energy power for the follow-up installations of its new integrated base in Zhanjiang, Guangdong
.
The agreement is the largest and longest renewable energy power purchase framework agreement signed in China
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With the support of this transaction and other related cooperation, BASF will further accelerate the progress of renewable energy power supply, aiming to provide 100% renewable energy power to the entire Zhanjiang integrated base by 2025 - this is earlier than the original plan
.
BASF will be the leader in the use of renewable electricity for China's manufacturing industry
.

Schwarzheide: An energy transition example for medium-sized production sites

In February 2022, BASF Schwarzheide GmbH and enviiaM formed a joint venture to build a solar power park with an expected annual power generation capacity of 25 GWh, which would cover about 10% of the site's current annual electricity demand
.
This will be the first large-scale solar power plant that BASF is directly involved in, supplying solar energy for the battery materials needed for the production of electric vehicles at the Schwarzheide site from the end of 2022
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At present, the base's own natural gas and steam turbine hybrid power station has basically completed the modernization
.
Once the power station is commissioned in late 2022, its improved fuel efficiency will increase power generation by 10% and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 16%
.

Next steps: BASF is ready to offer the first products with net zero emissions and a minimal carbon footprint
.

"BASF is making significant progress on its way to meeting its emission reduction targets .
And we are ready for the next step - sustainable growth through products with a minimal carbon footprint, " says Brudermüller
.
By using electricity from renewable sources, Low-carbon steam, bio-based feedstocks and efficient processes enable BASF to offer its customers products with net zero emissions and a minimised carbon footprint (PCF)
.
The company expects that such products will be in short supply in the medium term and that their market value will exceed their higher production costs
.
BASF believes that end consumers will drive the shift towards net-zero emissions and product consumption with a minimised carbon footprint due to their increasing demand for alternatives to traditional consumer products and their desire to make a personal contribution to reducing emissions
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Therefore, BASF aims to be one of the first companies that can offer as many products as possible with a minimal carbon footprint
.

Many BASF customers are equally eager to reduce the carbon footprint of their products in order to meet their own emissions targets
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This also places new demands on the transparency of carbon footprint calculations
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To this end, BASF has developed an in-house digital solution that calculates the carbon footprint of around 45,000 sold products
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Using this tool, BASF must now cover upstream Scope 3 emissions based on industry averages and values ​​from commercial databases
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To increase transparency on Scope 3 emissions, BASF is working closely with suppliers to improve data on the raw materials purchased from them
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BASF supports suppliers by sharing their knowledge on assessment and calculation methods, and in this way contributes to the standardization of carbon footprint calculations
.

Structural Approach to Capital Expenditure

Between 2021 and 2025, BASF still expects to need nearly 1 billion euros of capital expenditure to develop low-carbon emissions technologies and roll them out in pilot installations
.
This amount is already included in BASF's capital expenditure budget
.
Public funding for some projects has already been approved, while funding for others is expected to be decided soon
.
Over the 5-year period from 2026 to 2030, capital expenditures are expected to increase to around 2 billion to 3 billion euros
.
During this period, BASF plans to scale the first batch of new carbon management technologies and accelerate the transition to renewable energy
.
Thereafter, more investment is expected to build world-scale production sites using new technologies and to further expand the use of renewable energy beyond 2030
.