BASF "Reduce Carbon Dioxide by 25% by 2030 Compared to 2018"

1st Anniversary of Climate Goal Declaration... "Achieving 'Net Zero' by 2050"

Accelerating Renewable Energy Power Supply... Acquiring World's Largest Wind Farm Next Year, etc.

The construction site of 'Holland Kust Zuid (HKZ),' a 1.5GW wind power plant owned by Swedish power company Vattenfall, acquired by BASF. According to BASF, once HKZ begins operation as planned next year, it will become the world's largest wind power plant. (Photo by BASF)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Global chemical company BASF announced on the 8th that it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030 compared to 2018 levels and achieve 'net zero (carbon neutrality)' by 2050. On this day, marking the first anniversary of its climate goal declaration, the company reaffirmed its targets and disclosed progress. As part of its strategy, BASF is accelerating the supply of renewable energy by acquiring shares in Vattenfall's Holland Coast Zuid (HKZ) wind farm in Sweden, which is expected to become the world's largest wind farm after commencing operations next year.

At an investment briefing held on the same day, BASF announced these greenhouse gas reduction targets. The group plans to reduce CO2 emissions by 16.4 million tons across all its global sites by 2030 and has been disclosing annual group emission forecasts with a margin of error of ±500,000 tons.

Martin Bruderm?ller, Chairman of the Board, stated, "Although war is raging in Europe, we must never divert our attention from climate change, the greatest global challenge of our time." He added, "All group companies are working to reduce CO2 emissions more significantly, and we are also taking measures to reduce emissions from our products by collaborating with raw material suppliers."

According to BASF, despite a significant increase in production last year, CO2 emissions were reduced by approximately 3% compared to the previous year. The policy of procuring electricity from renewable energy proved effective and is expected to be a major driving force in achieving the CO2 emission reduction targets by 2025. Last year, BASF supplied 16% of its global electricity demand from renewable energy. The company expects to secure 100% of last year’s demand from renewable energy by 2030.

BASF is investing in its own renewable power assets while simultaneously purchasing green electricity directly from third parties. A representative example is the acquisition of shares in Vattenfall's 1.5GW Holland Coast Zuid (HKZ) offshore wind farm in the Netherlands last year. If HKZ begins operations as planned next year, it is expected to become the world's largest wind farm.

Additionally, BASF has signed 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with French state-owned energy company Engie and Danish state-owned energy company Ørsted. These agreements involve purchasing large amounts of wind and solar power to increase the renewable energy supply ratio. In the United States, long-term contracts for wind and solar power supply have been signed for the Freeport and Pasadena sites in Texas.

In China, BASF also signed contracts with suppliers to procure renewable energy needed for the new 'Fairbunt' facility in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province. 'Fairbunt' is a German word meaning 'integrated' and refers to BASF's integrated management facility that organically connects factories to reduce production costs. Chairman Bruderm?ller said, "BASF has made significant progress in achieving emission reduction targets and is preparing the next phase of sustainable growth through products with reduced carbon footprints (PCF)."

BASF plans to provide customers with 'net zero products' and low carbon footprint products through green electricity, low-carbon steam, bio-based raw materials, and high-efficiency processes. The company believes that in the medium term, demand for renewable energy will exceed supply, making its market value higher than production costs. Since there is a trend among end consumers to contribute to carbon reduction, producing net zero or low carbon footprint products is expected to gain empathy.

The ultimate goal is to become a low carbon footprint chemical company. To this end, BASF has developed a digital solution capable of calculating the carbon footprint of approximately 45,000 sales products. To calculate Scope 3 level emissions, the company uses both commercial databases and industry-wide averages as statistical standards. Scope 3 is a relatively strict standard that includes all CO2 emissions generated throughout the entire supply chain.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.