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BASF has calculated the individual product carbon footprints (PCF) of a large part of its portfolio of chemical intermediates1. The results were compared with assessments of market-wide average carbon footprints of the corresponding products of the third parties.
The outcome of the analysis shows that due to the production set-up the PCF of a range of BASF’s chemical intermediates is significantly below the global average PCF of the corresponding third-party chemicals, all produced from fossil-based raw materials.
BASF now offers these products as “LowPCF” intermediates:
- Tert-Butylamine (tBA)
- LowPCF
Formic Acid (FA)
- LowPCF
Propionic Acid (PA)
- LowPCF
1,6-Hexanediol
- LowPCF
Neopentyl Glycol (NPG)
- LowPCF
The PCF comprises the total greenhouse gas emissions that occur until the BASF product leaves the factory gate for the customer: from the extraction of resources through the manufacturing of precursors to the making of the final chemical product itself.
Various factors contributing to low product carbon footprint are:
- Energy generation in BASF’s own gas-fired combined heat and power plants generates significantly less greenhouse gas emissions compared to other conventional energy generation.
- In addition, production processes of LowPCF intermediates are characterized by high production efficiency in terms of energy and raw material consumption due to BASF’s integrated Verbund system and continuous efforts in operational excellence.
- Finally, LowPCF intermediates generally use oil, natural gas or Verbund by-products, but not coal, as primary raw materials.
- Due to its chemical properties, the use of coal generally results in a higher carbon footprint of downstream products compared to natural gas or oil.
The intermediates tert-Butylamine (tBA), formic acid (FA), propionic acid (PA), 1,6-hexanediol (HDO) and neopentyl glycol (NPG) are versatile chemicals that are used as ingredients for numerous everyday products.
BASF customers use these products in the textile, automotive, agricultural, pharmaceutical, and furniture industries, among others.
Source: BASF