Covestro Nitrous Oxide Abatement Project Reaches 10M Carbon Credit Milestone

Germany’s Covestro, a supplier of high-tech polymer materials, and decarbonization company ClimeCo announced Nov. 5 that a nitrous oxide (N₂O) abatement project at Covestro’s Baytown, Texas facility, operated and maintained by LSB Industries, has surpassed 10 million carbon credits issued. 

The project has abated roughly 36,000 metric tons of N₂O since December 2010, equivalent to approximately 10 million metric tons of CO₂ avoided, according to the announcement. N₂O has about 273 times the global warming potential of CO₂, making abatement at the source a significant factor in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the company said.

The project destroys N₂O directly at the nitric acid unit, preventing it from entering the atmosphere. The reductions are verified under the Climate Action Reserve’s N₂O Abatement Protocol, ensuring regulatory compliance and carbon credit integrity, according to the company.

The abatement initiative has been in operation for 15 years and is one of the longest-running industrial N₂O projects in the U.S., the company said. The project demonstrates the operational integration of emissions control technologies in chemical manufacturing while maintaining production continuity, according to the company.

The latest milestone follows a project announced earlier this year to reduce up to 99% of greenhouse gas emissions from the plant’s nitric acid unit. According to the company, the unit represented about a 60% reduction in the site’s overall Scope 1 emissions. Covestro said the project is expected to cut roughly 195,000 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent annually, contributing to a cumulative reduction of nearly 900,000 metric tons when combined with prior abatement efforts.

_{This piece was created with the assistance of generative AI tools and was edited by our content team for clarity and accuracy.}