BASF offers chemical intermediates with reduced carbon footprint

The result of BASF's analysis of the individual product carbon footprints (PCFs) with assessments of the market-wide average PCFs of corresponding products manufactured by third parties shows that the PCFs of several chemical intermediates from BASF are significantly lower than the global averages of other manufacturers. In each case, production from fossil raw materials was considered. BASF now offers these products as "lowPCF" intermediates: Tert-Butylamine (tBA) LowPCF, Formic Acid LowPCF, Propionic Acid LowPCF, 1,6-Hexanediol (HDO) LowPCF and Neopentyl Glycol (NPG) LowPCF. PCF comprises the total greenhouse gas emissions that occur until the BASF product leaves the factory gate for the customer: from the extraction of raw materials to the production of precursors to the manufacture of the end product. On the way to its goal of achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2050, BASF says it is the first major chemical company to calculate the individual carbon footprints of all its sales products.

The PCF is influenced by various factors. For example, according to BASF, energy production in its own gas-fired cogeneration plants causes significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions than other, conventional forms of energy production. In addition, the production processes of lowPCF intermediates are characterized by high efficiency in terms of energy and raw material consumption, which is due to BASF's integrated Verbund system and continuous operational excellence activities. In addition, lowPCF intermediates typically use oil, natural gas or Verbund by-products as primary raw materials, but not coal. Due to its chemical properties, the use of coal generally leads to a higher carbon footprint of downstream products compared to natural gas or oil.