Borealis’ Energy & Climate Strategy defines the Group’s journey towards climate neutrality by 2050 (or sooner). Within this roadmap, the goals set for 2020 were to:
By the end of 2020, Borealis had:
Industrial evolution is having a major impact on the natural greenhouse effect. Over the last century, the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, has increased the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases and the clearing of land for agriculture, industry and other human activities has also contributed to that increase. The changes to the natural atmospheric greenhouse gas composition are difficult to predict, but certain effects seem likely. For example, the earth will become warmer; more evaporation and precipitation overall will occur; and the sea level will rise. Taken as a whole, the range of published evidence indicates that the net costs of climate change are likely to be significant and will increase over time.
The COP21 Paris Agreement calls on all countries to keep the global temperature increase to well below 2°C and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. In this context, the European Union is committed to being the first carbon neutral economy by 2050 and therefore will define its long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction strategy. This strategy is expected to transform all sectors of the European economy. The EU has already put a price on carbon emissions through the EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU-ETS), which monitors overall emissions and aims to achieve a reduction. It is very likely that the EU will push further policies to magnify the scope and incentives through EU-ETS. Other economic powerhouses will follow at some stage. As one of the largest and most diversified industries in Europe, and as an important emitter of GHGs, the chemical industry plays an important role in helping to achieve long-term GHG emission reductions in a European and global context.
Borealis’ governing body for addressing climate change is the Energy & CO2 Committee. For the HC and PO parts of the organisation, it develops and implements energy and CO2 emission targets, strategies and guidelines, and measures performance using KPIs. The committee is headed by the EVP Base Chemicals and Operations, and comprises representatives from relevant businesses and functions. Within the Fertilizer, Melamine and Technical Nitrogen Products (TEN) business, the Energy & CO2 Committee is headed by the COO Fertilizer, Melamine and TEN. To align the energy management system across Borealis, a Group-level energy management team has a presence in each location.
The Borealis HC and PO organisation has set up a team to create a roadmap to reduce fossil based CO2 emissions that result from industrial activities. The team will evaluate progress that has been made on the 2030 ambitions as well as technologies, business challenges and innovation, and reports to the Energy & CO2 Committee. The team is led by the VP Hydrocarbon Operations and works closely with the Circular Economy team. In Fertilizer, Melamine and TEN, a GHG reduction task force has been set up to identify the full GHG reduction potential and to create a roadmap to achieve it.
Climate change is non arguably the biggest threat for humans on a global scale. Borealis therefore has a responsibility to reduce its carbon footprint, as well its products’ total life-cycle emissions. Climate protection and economic success must go hand in hand, to ensure that the innovations needed for global climate protection continue to be developed. Whilst it is essential to decrease emissions in the Group’s operations, Borealis is also contributing to both avoiding and decreasing value chain emissions during the life cycle of its solutions.
Borealis can play a significant role in solving society’s climate challenges by providing sustainable Polyolefin solutions. For example:
However, Borealis wants to do more. The Group is committed to reducing the carbon footprint of its operations to ensure it is climate neutral by 2050 or sooner, and will set an ambition level and develop a roadmap for CO2 reduction for 2030 in 2021.
Borealis will achieve these goals by following three pathways:
For each of these, Borealis has set the following goals in its journey towards climate neutrality by 2050 (or sooner):
Borealis puts a high value on partnerships in and beyond the conventional Polyolefin value chain. Therefore, the Group is working with partners along the value chain to respond to scope 3 emissions that occur both upstream and downstream. A real step change can only be achieved through intra- and cross-sectoral cooperation, as well as developing in 2021 robust internal pricing that stimulates companies to permanently reduce CO2 emission.
To calculate its emissions performance, Borealis uses a broad range of emission factors, which are a means to calculate the GHG emissions for a given source. Each EU member state has a national inventory of emission factors, which means that, for example, natural gas use in Austria would have the specific Austrian emission factor applied to it. Other emission factors are standard factors from scientific literature or are measured by a certified laboratory. All EU-ETS emission factors are permitted and approved by the relevant authorities.
In 2020, Borealis produced 4,050 kilotonnes of EU-ETS CO2 equivalent emissions. This is less than the 4,625 kilotonnes in 2019 due to production reduction as result of COVID-19 and unforeseen stops of Cracker and Ammonia plants. For 2021, Borealis has set out a target to not emit more than 4,527 kilotonnes of EU-ETS CO2 equivalent emissions.
Total scope 1 and 2 emissions according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol were 5.1 Mton CO2-eq. over 2019, calculated on the basis of emissions from companies under Borealis’ operational control and more than 50% ownership, and the market-based approach of Scope 2.
N2O emissions from nitric acid plants decreased to 1,143 tonnes in 2020, compared to 1,351 tonnes in 2019 due to a reduction in nitric acid production of 85 kilotonnes and improvement of the N2O catalyst.
*) Total scope 1 and 2 emissions, calculated in accordance with the GHG-protocol factors; numbers might vary in the range of +/- 10%; values are not yet externally audited as Borealis is taking a first step towards comprehensive greenhouse gas accounting. Emissions taken into account when Borealis has operational control and + 50% ownership; scope 2 is calculated in a market-based approach. Emissions of 2020 are not reported as important grid factors were not known at the point at which this report was published.
The 2030 renewable energy goal is an important part of the journey towards climate neutrality by 2050 or sooner. To achieve the 2030 goal, Borealis will use a combination of onsite investments where possible, as well as long-term contracts known as power purchase agreements. The projects targeted are preferably as close as realistically possible to the Borealis locations where the power is consumed. Borealis believes that more renewable power will be needed going forward if industries such as the petrochemical industry are to electrify further.
Energy consumption accounts for a significant proportion of Borealis’ total costs and for around 55% of its GHG emissions. Process emissions (emissions resulting from a chemical reaction) from ammonia production represent 32% of GHG emissions and flaring losses, and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, represent a further 13%.
Borealis has the ambition to implement improvements equal to 20% of the absolute energy consumption in 2015 by 2030. The Group’s Energy Roadmap sets out a sequence of different activities, starting with establishing a baseline.
The baseline for any energy efficiency improvement is to implement and comply with ISO 50001, combined with continuous leadership engagement from key teams. Initiatives include energy teams at each production location that drive the location’s energy planning process, increase awareness, act as a forum for energy issues and ensure ISO 50001 compliance.
To progress beyond this baseline, all Borealis locations run energy screening programmes every four years – often with third-party support – to evaluate their energy performance and identify improvement opportunities.
Actions to improve energy efficiency fall into one of three levels known as levers which will deliver increasing optimisation. The three levels of actions are as follows:
Borealis’ main sources of energy are electricity, heat (primarily from steam), natural gas and fuel gas. The Group documents, tracks and follows up on all sources of energy each month, for every location.
In 2020, Borealis’ total primary energy consumption was 22,340 GWh compared to 25,831 GWh in 2019. This represents a decrease of 3,491 GWh compared to the previous year due to production reduction as result of COVID-19 and unforeseen stops of Cracker and Ammonia plants. In total, 242 GWh of steam were sold.
Data on all of Borealis’ energy consumption is collected as it is metered, then converted to the equivalent in primary energy using the Group’s environmental data management tool. This allows Borealis to summarise different energy sources using one consumption figure, enabling comparability across plants and production lines, and providing the Group with better information for identifying technological improvement opportunities. Figures Total energy consumption per source in 2020 and Total energy consumption per product group in 2020 show the activities for which energy was used.
Figures Polyolefins production energy intensity 2016–2020 and ambition 2021, Hydrocarbons production energy intensity 2016–2020 and ambition 2021 and Fertilizer, Melamine and TEN production energy intensity 2016–2020 and ambition 2021 show the Group’s energy intensity since it established its Energy Roadmap for each business unit.
To achieve the climate neutrality goal, the Group tries to drive innovation in the value chain to reduce scope 3 emissions and to increase carbon circularity.
Examples of the Group’s partnership approach and innovation include:
In addition to the partnerships and innovations described above, Borealis undertook a wide range of activities in 2020 in relation to Climate & Energy. These included establishing its CO2 reduction roadmap and the Group’s ambitions for 2030 to guide Borealis’ Energy & Climate activities in the coming years. The Group also applied for the fourth trading period of EU-ETS and set out the basis for GHG accounting.
To find new opportunities for energy efficiency improvements, Borealis finalised energy screenings in Kallo (Belgium), Schwechat (Austria), Stenungsund (Sweden), Burghausen (Germany), Linz (Austria), Grand Quevilly (France) and Monza (Italy). Actions are prioritised based on their benefit to the planet, in the form of environmental benefits, people (for example, through improved working conditions) and profit (such as the ability to generate cost savings). The prioritisation is based on factors such as a risk and opportunity assessment, including social, environmental and economic aspects, total cost of ownership, internal rate of return and organisational capacity.
During 2020, the Group also successfully complied with the new version of the energy management standard ISO50001:2018. A series of internal audits was undertaken to prepare for certification of the energy management system, enabling Borealis to successfully upgrade the system to comply with the new version of ISO50001:2018 for its European locations.
Other activities during the year included:
Borealis’ energy and climate objectives are to:
