Energy Moves: Covestro, Perstorp Achieve Net-Zero Sustainability Goals

Covestro, a supplier of polymer materials, announced in early March that four of its U.S. sites have reached net-zero Scope 2 electricity emissions and launched a Scope 1 emissions reduction project at another plant as part of its goal to make all sites climate neutral by 2025.

Sites in South Deerfield, Massachusetts; New Martinsville, West Virginia; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have achieved complete net-zero Scope 2 emissions while its Channelview, Texas site achieved net-zero Scope 2 emissions for electricity. 

Covestro said in a press statement this achievement is a result of renewable energy certificates (RECs) and its existing virtual power purchase agreement (vPPA) with Ørsted, a clean energy provider for the U.S. market, headquartered in Denmark.

The agreement with Ørsted, which provides Covestro with 90 MW of renewable energy capacity, will reduce approximately 90,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually. 

Meanwhile, Covestro’s Baytown, Texas site has commissioned a project to reduce its nitric acid unit’s greenhouse gas emissions by up to 99%, which accounts for a 60% reduction in the site’s overall scope 1 emissions, said the company. 

According to Covestro, nitric acid production has historically been a significant source of greenhouse gases and a focus of the company’s decarbonization efforts for more than a decade. 

The project, known as NAUCI (Nitric Acid Unit Climate Initiative), is expected to reduce annual CO2e by roughly 195KT, and when combined with previous nitric acid unit abatement projects, it represents a cumulative annual CO2e reduction of nearly 900KT.

Also announced earlier this month, specialty chemicals maker Perstorp’s animal nutrition-focused plant in Waspik, the Netherlands, officially reduced its Scope 1 and Scope 2 direct emissions to report zero over 2024. 

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the company said it replaced fossil fuel forklift trucks with electric ones, lighting with LEDs and natural gas used for heating with biogas. 100% of electricity used is renewable. Energy consumption in heating and electricity are the two largest factors affecting Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Perstorp is now looking at the next steps to further reduce its environmental footprint at the site.

In a press statement, the company said it’s driven to become Finite Material Neutral, focusing on science-based reduction targets for Scope 1, 2 and 3. For Scope 1 and 2 emissions, the target is a 46% reduction in 2030 compared to a 2019 base year. This is consistent with the reductions required to keep global warming limited to 1.5°C, the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement.

To reach these targets, each site has its own roadmap of identified activities to reach sustainability targets.