BASF wants to achieve net zero emissions by 2050
BASF aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 25 percent by 2030. The company announces investments of EUR four billion.
BASF wants to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Based on the most recent progress in developing low-emission and CO2-free technologies, the company is also significantly raising its medium-term 2030 target for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions: BASF now wants to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions worldwide by 25 percent compared with 2018 – and to achieve this despite targeted growth and the construction of a large Verbund site in South China.
Excluding the effects of the planned growth, this means cutting CO2 emissions in half in the current business by the end of this decade. Overall, BASF plans to invest up to EUR 1 billion by 2025 to reach its new climate target and a further EUR 2 billion to EUR 3 billion by 2030.
In 2018, BASF Group’s worldwide emissions amounted to 21.9 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents. In 1990, this figure was roughly twice as high. The new 2030 emissions goal represents a reduction of approximately 60 percent compared to 1990 levels, which exceeds the European Union’s target of minus 55 percent.
New technologies
At the heart of the long-term transition toward net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 is the use of new technologies, which will replace fossil fuels such as natural gas with electricity from renewable sources. Most of these technologies are being pioneered by BASF in collaboration with partners and are currently in a pilot stage. According to the company, broad scaleup of these technologies will only be fully realisable after 2030.
In order to accelerate the avoidance of CO2 emissions prior to that date, BASF wants to implement continuous improvement processes for existing production plants. In addition, BASF plans to progressively switch to renewable sources to meet its electricity needs and intends to invest in wind parks to facilitate this.
The company expects that this switch to climate-neutral production processes will lead to a sharp increase in electricity demand at the group’s major sites, including the largest production site in Ludwigshafen, in the coming decade. From around 2035, the group’s electricity demand is expected to be more than three times higher than it is today.
