Air Products has increased its capital commitment to first-mover energy transition projects to at least $15bn in investments through 2027.
This is one of many commitments the industrial gas giant formalised in its 2023 sustainability report, Sustainability in Action.
The industrial gas giant also said that, in 2022, it generated 56% of fiscal revenues from sustainability offerings and help its customers avoid 86 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Seifi Ghasemi, Chairman, President and CEO of Air Products, notes that during the past year Air Products has strengthened its sustainability goals for the future, announced spending targets for energy transition projects and worked on several first-mover clean energy projects.
The sustainability report highlights several energy transition projects, including:
The world’s largest green hydrogen energy complex
In conjunction with AWCA power and Neom, Air Products is building a multi-billion-dollar green hydrogen-based ammonia facility powere by renewable energy in Neom, Saudi Arabia. Once onstream, the facility will supply 600 tonnes of carbon-free hydrogen a day for heavy-duty vehicles or industrial applications.
Read more: Plans unveiled for $5bn green hydrogen-based ammonia facility
A $4.5bn clean energy complex in Louisiana
Air Products’ single-ever largest investment in the Us, the facility will produce 750 million standard cubic feet of low-carbon hydrogen per day. The project is also expected to be the world’s largest carbon capture facility for permanent sequestration, capturing 95% of the facility’s carbon dioxide emissions.
Read more: Air Products announced $4.5bn blue hydrogen complex
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A Sustainable Aviation Fuel production hub in collaboration with World Energy
As part of an agreement with World Energy, Air Products will support the development of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production and distribution hub in Paramount, California. The site is believed to be theworld’s first commercial-scale SAF facility, producing 340 million gallons of fuel annually.
Read more: Air Products, World Energy, Honeywell to develop SAF hub
In addition to making capital investments focused on the energy transition, and looking at several key activities related to the clean energy transition, the industrial gas giant also reaffirmed its goal to reach Net Zero carbon emissions from its operations by 2050.
The report also highlighted Air Products’ expanding ‘Third by 30’ goal to reduce its CO2 emissions intensity by one-third by 2030 from a 2015 baseline.
In 2022, Air Products expanded its ‘Third by 30’ goal to include Scope 3 emissions, in addition to the previously announced commitment to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions intensity.
Ghasemi concluded, “At the heart of all these undertakings are more than 21,000 employees who work hard every day to meet these goals and deliver these projects. Their steadfast dedication to making the world a better place throgh sustainable action is all part of Air Products’ higher purpose as a company.”
Air Products’ full sustainability report can be accessed here.
e-methanol, SAF and PtL: The future of CO2 utilisation
The route to decarbonisation and the energy transition has sometimes been described as defossilisation. Liquid fuels are incredibly useful energy vectors due to their high energy density and ease of handling. Gasoline, diesel, aviation kerosene and heavy fuel oil have become the fuels of choice for cars, trucks, planes, and shipping.
The challenge is to substitute these refined products that are derived from crude oil with sustainable, convenient and cost-effective alternatives.
Liquid fuels of a non-fossil origin are one such solution. Methanol and e-methanol are seen as viable alternatives for fuelling trucks, buses and marine applications, for example.
e-methanol burns with almost no particulate emissions and since it contains no sulfur, the emissions are free of sulfur dioxide. Th use of e-methanol for road and maritime applications would reduce pollutant gas emissions. Methanol, like diesel and heavy fuel oil, does produce CO2 emissions during combustion. However, since e-methanol is made from captured CO2 the emissions are carbon neutral: e-methanol is not a fossil fuel…
If you’re a gasworld subscriber, continue reading all about e-methanol, Synthetic aviation fuel (SAF), hydrogen, electrolysis and CCUS in this exclusive feature here.