Air Products announces USD15bn clean energy investment

Air Products will spend or commit at least $4bn in additional new capital to support the clean energy transition over the next five years, bringing its total commitment to first-mover projects to USD15bn by 2027, said the company.

The industrial gas company today (25th July) made the pledge as part of its newly published ‘Third by 30’ carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions intensity goal for Scope 3 emissions, an addition to its existing Scope 1 and 2 goal to reach Net Zero from its operations by 2050.

In order to reach its ambitious targets, Air Products has identified tangible transition plans for new investments and modifications of existing company assets, including low- and zero- carbon hydrogen and carbon capture technologies.

Seifi Ghasemi, Chairman, President and CEO of Air Products, said, “These commitments complement the reinforce our growth strategy of building our business to deliver climate benefits and work alongside our customers on their sustainability journey."

“Air Products is uniquely positioned to bring together its portfolio of technologies and legacy of experience to ensure the future climate benefits generated by our first-mover projects come online at a crucial moment in the energy transition."

“We continue to see significant opportunities for hydrogen and carbon capture technologies, and our industry-leading USD15bn capital commitment is further demonstration of sustainability being at the heart of our business and growth."

It was in September 2020 when the US-based firm first launched its sustainability goal to reduce its CO2 emissions intensity by one-third by the year 2030 from a 2015 baseline – and ever since sustainability has been at the heart of its commitments.

As per MRC, Air Liquide invested and will operate its first biomethane production unit in China by the end of 2022. Located in Huai’an City, in the Jiangsu Province, the unit will have a production capacity of 75 GWh per year. This project demonstrates a circular economy and low-carbon approach, in line with the Group’s Sustainable Objectives and strategic plan, ADVANCE.
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Russia is once again sharply reducing the flow of piped gas to Germany, reminding Europe of the daunting challenge the continent faces to build up its energy stockpiles before winter, said Bloomberg.

Gazprom PSJC will cut shipments on the Nord Stream pipeline -- the main gas link to the European Union -- to about 20% of its capacity from 7 a.m. Moscow time on Wednesday, the Russian gas giant said in a statement. Maintenance issues with a turbine that helps pump gas into the link are behind the curbs, it said.

Russia is once again sharply reducing the flow of piped gas to Germany, reminding Europe of the daunting challenge the continent faces to build up its energy stockpiles before winter.

Gazprom PSJC will cut shipments on the Nord Stream pipeline -- the main gas link to the European Union -- to about 20% of its capacity from 7 a.m. Moscow time on Wednesday, the Russian gas giant said in a statement. Maintenance issues with a turbine that helps pump gas into the link are behind the curbs, it said.

As per MRC, Gazprom has told customers in Europe it cannot guarantee gas supplies because of 'extraordinary' circumstances. The July 14 letter from the Russian state gas monopoly said it was retroactively declaring force majeure on supplies dating from June 14. The news comes as Nord Stream 1, the key pipeline delivering Russian gas to Germany and beyond, is undergoing annual maintenance meant to conclude on Thursday. The letter added to Europe's fears that Moscow could keep the pipeline mothballed in retaliation for sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine, heightening an energy crisis that risks tipping the region into recession.
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Based on LyondellBasell CirculenRecover polyamide, sport equipment specialist TSL has created an innovative snowshoe which will delight outdoor sport fans, said the company.

The footbed of the new snowshoe model is not only based on recycled materials, it also combines extreme resistance with trendy design.

As a world leader in snowshoe development and manufacturing, TSL’s values are strongly connected to the respect of nature, wellbeing and innovation. It was therefore natural for TSL, to invest the use of recycled materials for a new snowshoe model. The challenge with this project was to find a plastic material which was based on recycled materials, but which did at the same time also fulfill all technical and visual requirements. LyondellBasell’s CirculenRecover product range, based on mechanically recycled source materials, brought the solution.

"Snowshoes in general and their footbed in particular are obviously used in extreme conditions,” says Bruno Viala, Business Development Manager at LyondellBasell. “They need to be highly resistant to impact and cold temperatures and also be durable over time. These requirements are usually incompatible with plastics that are based on recycled source materials. After several meetings and trials, we selected together with TSL our CirculenRecover EP PA MV SHI H grade for this project. The product contains approximately 80% of recycled materials and satisfies the demanding quality and design standards of TSL customers."

As per MRC, LyondellBasell has joined the NEXTLOOPP initiative that brings more than 40 major industry players together. Launched in October 2020, NEXTLOOPP aims to create circular food-grade recycled polypropylene (FGrPP) from post-consumer packaging.

As per MRC, LyondellBasell's sprawling chemical plant in Channelview may get even bigger. The international chemical giant, operated out of Houston, said it is evaluating an expansion to potentially boost the Channelview plant's ethylene capacity by 550 million pounds per year. Preliminary engineering work has begun to determine the feasibility of the project. If LyondellBasell decides to proceed, the expansion could be finished by 2017.
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Swiss construction chemicals firm Sika is still waiting for regulators to approve its planned acquisition of Germany-based MBCC Group, said the company.

Sika agreed to acquire MBCC in November 2021. Sika keeps co-operating closely with authorities and currently hopes to complete the deal by the end of 2022, it said.

MBCC Group is the construction chemicals business carved out from BASF. It was acquired for €3.17bn in 2020 by private equity firm Lone Star, which just a year later agreed to sell it to Sika.

As per MRC, Sika AG reported that its first-half net profit after taxes grew 21 percent to 598.8 million Swiss francs from last year's 494.7 million francs. Earnings per share were 3.76 francs, up 20.5 percent from 3.12 francs a year ago. Operating profit or EBIT grew 22.7 percent to 841.9 million francs. EBIT margin was 16 percent. Operating profit before depreciation or EBITDA grew 19.5 percent to 1.04 billion francs.
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Johnson Matthey (JM) has announced that it is collaborating with ClimeCo, a global climate solutions company, to accelerate the deployment of enhanced carbon capture solutions for industry, said the Hydrocarbonengineering.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the two companies will help syngas producers, initially in hydrogen and methanol, to build the business case for reducing CO2 emissions from existing processes by up to 95%.

Combining the expertise of the two companies will enable syngas producers to make immediate progress on complex carbon issues by supporting project economics development, de-risking the business case for decarbonisation projects, and providing a mechanism to create validated CO2 emissions reductions and creating compliance credits in many government-backed carbon markets.

Together, the companies aim to empower customers to make informed decisions on allocating capital for the deployment of JM's CLEANPACE solutions, accelerate emissions reductions, and future-proof their plants against the rising costs of carbon.

Syngas producers are responsible for approximately 70% of CO2 emissions in the chemicals sector. The opportunity for JM's Low Carbon Solutions to deploy existing technology to over 150 grey hydrogen plants in Europe and North America alone, could reduce CO2 emissions by over 100 million tpy by 2030.

"Companies around the world are under pressure to reduce carbon emissions and meet net zero targets," said Jane Toogood, Catalyst Technologies Chief Executive at JM. "Creating strategic partnerships allows us to offer our customers rounded and complete solutions. By working together with ClimeCo, we will enable industries such as chemicals and refining, who rely on syngas, to quickly understand the regulatory frameworks, accelerate capital decisions for decarbonisation programmes and easily deploy proven technology solutions that can have an impact today, to create a cleaner world."

"In order to decarbonise, industry is faced with a complex set of regulatory and financial hurdles," added Bill Flederbach, ClimeCo's CEO and President. "This alliance, leveraging ClimeCo's expertise in regulatory analysis along with advocacy and leadership in environmental credit creation and transactions, supports stakeholders across 'hard to abate' industrial sectors by identifying technically and economically viable decarbonisation pathways, helping them go beyond conceptual studies to deploy technology solutions that make a difference today."

As per MRC, Johnson Matthey will build an GDP80.0m gigafactory at its existing site in Royston as part of an effort to scale up the manufacturing of hydrogen fuel cell components. Johnson Matthey said on Monday that the gigafactory will initially be capable of manufacturing three gigawatts of proton exchange membrane fuel cell components for hydrogen vehicles per annum and will be supported by the UK Government's Automotive Transformation Fund.
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