Covestro (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA), a leading manufacturer of high-quality polymers, recently made significant progress towards its scope 1 climate neutrality goal for its Baytown, Texas site. A newly commissioned project known as Nitric Acid Unit Climate Initiative (NAUCI), reduces greenhouse gas emissions from the site’s Nitric Acid Unit by up to 99%, which accounts for a 60% reduction in its site overall scope 1 emissions.
“Covestro is committed to our ambitious goals to operationally climate neutral by 2035,” says Thorsten Dreier, chief technology officer (CTO) of Covestro. “This project is particularly inspiring, not only due to the significant impact to our scope 1 emissions, but because it was implemented solely for the environmental benefits and in support of our sustainable future strategy.”
Nitric acid is an important raw material for the production of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) and toluene diisocyanate (TDI), which are key components of polyurethane and can be found in applications from mattresses and furniture to energy-efficient insulation and automobile seats, among others.
The production of nitric acid has historically been a significant source of greenhouse gases and a focus of Covestro's decarbonization efforts for more than a decade. The recently commissioned NAUCI project alone reduces annual carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) by roughly 195KT, and when combined with previous nitric acid unit abatement projects, cumulatively represents an annual CO2e reduction of nearly 900KT.
“It's projects such as NAUCI that help us achieve our scope 1 targets, and I am confident that our continued efforts will drive even greater success as we work towards achieving climate neutrality by 2035,” says Victor Ortega, Baytown site manager and senior vice president of Performance Materials and Operations North America. “I look forward to seeing the lasting positive impact this project has both within the site and in the Baytown community for years to come.”
The Covestro site in Baytown aims to be scope 1 and scope 2 climate neutral by 2035.
Source: Covestro via PR Newswire, www.prnewswire.com.
