Acting responsibly. Aspiration and commitment. Corporate Responsibility is a fundamental part of the LANXESS corporate culture. Climate protection is a major challenge for sustainable development.
LANXESS is a globally operating specialty chemicals group. It is therefore essential that it should be involved over the long term in shaping the future of the chemical industry and in harmonizing economic, ecological and social needs. By developing innovative technical solutions in the field of climate protection, LANXESS contributes to the reduction or avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions along the entire value chain.
These solutions cover such aspects as inhouse energy production, environmentally friendly products and the disposal of residues. In the last two years, LANXESS has reduced its direct greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50 percent worldwide. From 2007 to 2009, annual emissions from the group’s plants were cut from 3.5 million to 1.5 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents. Emissions per metric ton of manufactured
product have also fallen by almost half – from 0.56 to 0.3 metric tons of CO2 equivalents. LANXESS acknowledges its responsibility for climate protection. As a specialty chemicals group, it uses renewable raw materials wherever this makes economic sense and is socially compatible, and it encourages the sustainable production and cost-effective use of energy. For example, by changing over to the highly efficient cogeneration
technology for producing heat and power. But LANXESS also uses the tools of a free market economy such as emissions trading to finance relevant climate protection projects for technological progress. Long-term investment in climate protection is therefore well worthwhile. Find out more about climate protection at LANXESS in this brochure.
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Mission: Climate Protection. Chemistry for the future. Acting sustainably. The chemical industry recognized its responsibility early and acted on it.
Climate protection is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. For nearly 500,000 years, the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere remained more or less constant. However, since the beginning of industrialization around 200 years ago, it has climbed rapidly. If the current rate of development continues, the level of CO2 in the next few years will nearly double.
CO2-Level in 45 years starting from the current development
Current CO2-Level
Along with the rest of industry, the chemical industry has been called on to operate energy-efficiently and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It has done just that – and very successfully, too. In 2005, the chemical industry in Europe reduced greenhouse gas emissions by nearly a quarter compared with 1990 – despite a 50 percent increase in production. In Germany, greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacture of chemical products alone were cut in the same period by more than a third.
time (years before present)
If that wasn’t enough, chemical products themselves also make a contribution to climate protection – a fact documented in the “Innovations for Greenhouse Gas Reductions“ study drawn up in July 2009 by the McKinsey consulting company on behalf of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA). According to this study, products from the chemical industry save more than twice as much energy over their lifetime as is used in their production. Product innovations, new technologies and improved processes for the use of renewable energy sources will also help the chemical industry to further improve its chemical balance. According to a “business-as-usual” model drawn up as part of the ICCA study, for every ton of emissions, up to three tons of CO2 will be saved in the year 2030. If a stricter climate protection policy were introduced, as much as five tons less CO2 would be possible.
Source: Science Magazine
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LARA. A nitrous oxide reduction plant becomes an ambassador for Germany. Germany: LANXESS has cut its output of greenhouse gases by 80 percent compared with 2007. The new nitrous oxide reduction plant in Krefeld-Uerdingen has played a key role in this.
LANXESS fully acknowledges its responsibility for climate protection. Evidence of this is provided by the construction of a second nitrous oxide reduction plant (LARA for short) in Krefeld-Uerdingen (Germany). Through the start-up of the new facility, emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) from the adipic acid production plant there have been completely neutralized, saving around 5,000 metric tons a year. The new plant plays an important role in ensuring that LANXESS will be able to realize its climate target for Germany earlier than planned.
The goal was to cut climate gas emissions compared with 2007 by 80 percent by 2012, but this figure was actually reached before the end of 2009. Annual emissions have fallen from around 1.9 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents to less than 0.3 million tons, corresponding to an annual saving of 1.5 million tons of CO2 equivalents compared with 2007.
Adipic acid is used among other things as a feedstock for the production of highperformance polyamide 6.6 plastic, which LANXESS manufactures in Krefeld. Although the nitrous oxide produced as a by-product is not harmful to humans, it is 310 times more harmful to the climate than carbon dioxide.
First plant of its kind in Germany LANXESS is doing pioneering work in the field of nitrous oxide reduction. As long ago as 1992, a thermal nitrous oxide separation facility was added to the adipic acid production plant in Krefeld-Uerdingen – the first of its kind in Germany. It reduced nitrous oxide emissions by up to 90 percent. In 2009, the second plant went on stream. The size of the savings achieved by the new LARA plant can be illustrated by a few examples: 1.5 million tons of CO2 are also generated by: • a million computers left running for whole year without interruption, • the transport of just under a million passengers by plane from Frankfurt to New York, • nearly two million compact cars each covering a distance of 12,000 kilometers in a year.
“Selected Landmark for 2010” LANXESS has also taken a new approach with regard to the financing of the LARA project. The facility is the first industrial joint implementation project to be realized in Germany. Environmental commitment thus also becomes economically interesting: LANXESS can refinance its investment of around ten million euros through the sale of its allocated emission certificates.
The new nitrous oxide reduction plant has also won an award. LARA is one of the “Selected Landmarks for 2010” in the “365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas” contest. At each of these landmarks an innovative project is presented. The awardwinning places are serving this year as ambassadors for the campaign “Germany – Land of Ideas”, whose patron is German President Horst Köhler. With their know-how, they represent Germany’s creativity and innovative strength. The contest has been organized by the “Germany – Land of Ideas” initiative together with the Deutsche Bank since 2006. The goal of the organizers is to motivate people in Germany to think outside the box and have the courage, curiosity and spirit of innovation to explore new avenues.
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Sugar cane instead of oil. Independent and environmentally friendly. Brazil: At its iron oxide production facility in Porto Feliz, LANXESS has opted for the highly efficient cogeneration technology for producing heat and power – with positive effects on the climate. With the new cogeneration plant at its Porto Feliz site in Brazil, LANXESS has set a milestone in efficient energy utilization. The facility for the production of electricity and steam went on stream in spring 2010. In Porto Feliz, LANXESS produces inorganic pigments under the name Bayferrox. They are used primarily in the construction and surface coatings industries, but also in plastics, toners and paper. The new on-site power plant has a capacity of 4.5 MW and runs on bagasse. Bagasse is a fibrous component of sugarcane that is left over from the sugar production process. Through the use of this renewable fuel, energy production takes place on a completely CO2-neutral basis. The amount of carbon dioxide released is directly proportional to the volume absorbed by future sugar cane crops as they grow.
The gradual switchover from fossil fuels to renewable raw materials for power generation at the site began as far back as 2003. The start-up of this new power plant will enable LANXESS to cut emissions of harmful gases at the site to virtually zero. From 2010, its climate gas emissions will decrease by around 44,000 metric tons of CO2 per year compared with 2002 levels. This state-of-the-art, highly efficient plant boasts an efficiency level of up to 90 percent. LANXESS has invested approximately EUR 8 million in the construction of this new on-site power plant. It will provide the Brazilian production lines with cost-efficient energy – reliably and long-term.
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Forward-looking solutions. Worldwide. With its many forward-looking technical solutions, LANXESS is making an important contribution to reducing and avoiding greenhouse gases at its production sites around the world.
In December 2008, LANXESS put a cuttingedge facility for waste air treatment on stream at its French production site in Port Jérôme. Rubber production at the site generates some 130,000 cubic meters of waste air every hour. Besides fine rubber particles, this air also includes solvents in the form of hydrocarbon compounds, mostly hexane. This state-of-the-art regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO for short) first removes all rubber particles from the waste air.
The hydrocarbons are then filtered out, concentrated and incinerated. This innovative process combination – specially developed for LANXESS – enables the hydrocarbons to be incinerated almost without the need for fossil fuels. As a result, CO2 emissions from incineration are cut by approximately 50 percent compared with conventional methods. Operating costs are also much lower.
At its Belgian site of Zwijndrecht, LANXESS has built a new block-type thermal power plant in cooperation with the utilities company Electrabel. This cutting-edge plant operates on the cogeneration principle and allows highly efficient use of the primary energy. This in turn reduces CO2 emissions by around 80,000 tons per year. Together with Electrabel, LANXESS is investing EUR 60 million in the new block-type power plant. In 2010, LANXESS will start up more cogeneration plants for resource-saving energy production. At the Indian site of Nagda, a new power plant will help to make local production independent of external electricity suppliers. The facility, which generates four megawatts of power and up to 45 metric tons of steam every hour, will run on biomass fuels. Following completion, it will cut net carbon dioxide emissions there to zero.
LANXESS is constantly working on lowering the output of substances that impact the environment, both in the manufacture and in the transport of its products. The La Wantzenau site in France is a good example. From there, deliveries are no longer transported to the port of Antwerp in Belgium by truck, but are carried by ship along the Rhine or, at low water, by rail. This measure has not only halved the site’s CO2 emissions, it has also cut freight costs by around 30 percent. In order to improve the energy efficiency of the production plants and reduce the consumption of resources, LANXESS has also introduced an energy check called “X_Energy”. With this system, the energy efficiency of different sections of the plant can be assessed and optimization potential identified.
At a second Indian production site in Jhagadia, LANXESS is building a new plant for the production of ion exchange resins. Its energy will come from a highly efficient on-site facility operated with environmentally friendly natural gas.
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Environmentally friendly tires. High-tech for a healthy climate. More than a hundred years of experience in rubber development make LANXESS a driving force in the industry.
LANXESS is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-tech rubber and is considered a technology leader and a driving force in the industry. Around 70 percent of rubber is used in the production of car tires. Alongside safety, environmental protection plays an ever increasing role here. This is due in no small part to the decision by the EU Parliament to make the use of safe, environmentally friendly tires compulsory. In future, tires must be provided with an information label clearly indicating their fuel efficiency. The use of environmentally friendly tires can lead to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions on Europe‘s roads. If all the vehicles in Europe were fitted with these tires, around six billion liters of fuel could be saved annually, resulting in approximately 15 million metric tons fewer CO2 emissions every year.
LANXESS already produces high-performance rubbers that enable this industry to comply with the EU’s requirements relating to safe, more environmentally friendly tires. Lower rolling resistance and lower fuel consumption are the hallmarks of the innovative, environmentally friendly tires made from high-performance rubbers from LANXESS. In turn, the reduction in fuel consumption cuts the level of CO2 emissions and protects the environment. The high-tech materials produced by LANXESS make it possible to extend the “magic triangle” of tire technology, combining low rolling resistance with good wet grip – and thus shorter braking distances – and excellent mileage.
The service life of tires is also extended by an innovative high-performance rubber additive marketed by LANXESS under the name Nanoprene. The additive extends the service life of tires by up to 15 percent, improves their grip by the same amount and also reduces rolling resistance. Especially with winter tires, this tiny component in the rubber compound produces an important safety benefit. Extensive tests show that the tires offer outstanding grip on dry and wet roads without the rubber hardening in contact with snow and ice.
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In addition to environmentally friendly tires, the body of a modern-day car also plays a major role in safety and the protection of the environment. The key is lightweight construction. Plastic/metal composite technology with polyamide – also known as hybrid technology – has been used in the production of lightweight and highly integrated front ends for more than ten years. LANXESS was very much involved in its development. Car roof frames and other body parts are also series-produced using this technology. A vehicle with a new generation of bodywork structural inserts, for example, weighs up to ten kilograms less. Both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are reduced as a result. In the Audi A6 front end, hybrid technology results in a weight reduction of around 500 grams compared with a metal-only version made from two welded steel sheets.
New opportunities are also being created by the advanced composites technology based on plastics and organic sheets. These are thermoplastics reinforced with a fabric of glass, carbon or aramid fibers, or a mixture of these. Organic sheets are lighter than steel or aluminum. The combination of plastic and fibers weighs five times less than steel. Because of the lower weight, fuel consumption is reduced and no corrosion protection is needed. On top of that, the material is easier to shape, and has high stiffness and strength properties. Experts forecast that cars will, in the medium term, be built entirely from such composite materials. The composites also perform well in collisions because they do not break, they merely deform. LANXESS produces the raw material for the new composite: highly reinforced polyamide 6. The new plastic sheet will be used for the first time from March 2010 in Audi’s new top-of the-range model, the Audi A8.
Lighter and safer. Plastics technology in the automotive sector. High-performance plastics are increasingly being used as a substitute for steel in modern vehicles. Cars are becoming lighter and safer, and they use less fuel.
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Forward-looking statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by LANXESS AG management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here.
The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments. Bayferrox® is a registered trademark of Bayer AG, Leverkusen, Germany.
