Latest news with #ScienceBasedTargets
Hans India
12 hours ago
- Business
- Hans India
Ambuja, ACC get pats with Net-Zero targets
Ambuja Cements and ACC, the cement and building materials companies of the diversified Adani Portfolio, have achieved a landmark sustainability milestone as the leading two Indian cement companies amongst peers to have their net-zero targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), it was announced on Thursday. The SBTi's 'Corporate Net-Zero Standard' is the world's only framework for corporate net-zero target setting in line with climate science.'We take immense pride in Ambuja Cements' and ACC's long-standing tradition of pioneering sustainability initiatives as we feel a strong responsibility to act in the climate crisis,' said Vinod Bahety, CEO-Cement Business, Adani group. The SBTi validation proves the companies' commitment to building a sustainable and responsible business, by doing not what is easy but what is necessary and positioning them as corporate leaders of the low-carbon transition. This recognition places them at the forefront of India's industrial decarbonisation, committed to cutting emissions at the pace and scale required to meet the Paris Agreement's 1.5 degrees Celsius goal. Ambuja is also the first cement manufacturer globally to join the Alliance for Industry Decarbonization (AFID), led by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and is a member of WEF's Transitioning Industrial Clusters initiative. Synergies across the Adani Group ecosystem are central to this ambition. With a $100 billion commitment to India's green energy transition, the Group is scaling renewable capacity from 14.2 GW to 50 GW by 2030 and building an integrated green hydrogen platform.
India Gazette
a day ago
- Business
- India Gazette
Ambuja Cements and ACC become India's leading cement companies with net-zero targets validated by the SBTi
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], June 19 (ANI): Ambuja Cements and ACC, the cement and building materials companies of the diversified Adani Portfolio, have achieved a landmark sustainability milestone as the leading two Indian cement companies amongst peers to have their net-zero targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The SBTi's Corporate Net-Zero Standard is the world's only framework for corporate net-zero target setting in line with climate science. According to Adani, the SBTi validation proves the Companies' commitment to building a sustainable and responsible business, by doing not what is easy but what is necessary and positioning them as corporate leaders of the low-carbon transition. This recognition places them at the forefront of India's industrial decarbonisation, committed to cutting emissions at the pace and scale required to meet the Paris Agreement's 1.5C goal. Vinod Bahety, CEO - Cement Business, Adani Group, said, 'We take immense pride in Ambuja Cements' and ACC's long-standing tradition of pioneering sustainability initiatives as we feel a strong responsibility to act in the climate crisis. The SBTi represents the highest standard for corporate climate targets.' He added, 'With the validation of our targets by the SBTi, we reinforce our dedication to creating a future where growth and environmental stewardship go hand in hand. We are the 9th largest cement manufacturer in the world and after Cemex, Heidelberg and Holcim, only one of this scale to achieve net-zero target validation. Our journey doesn't stop here - this is yet another step towards realising our vision for a decarbonised and sustainable world.' The Companies understand the importance of rapid and deep emission cuts and have been pioneering sustainability practices as leaders in the industry's transformation towards sustainable growth. The Companies will prioritise direct decarbonisation and neutralise residual emissions in line with SBTi criteria. The Companies' initiatives on green power, AFR, energy efficiency, technology upgradation, innovation have had helped to set up the targets. Ambuja is also the first cement manufacturer globally to join the Alliance for Industry Decarbonization (AFID), led by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and is a member of WEF's Transitioning Industrial Clusters initiative. Synergies across the Adani Group ecosystem are central to this ambition. With a USD 100 billion commitment to India's green energy transition, the Group is scaling renewable capacity from 14.2 GW to 50 GW by 2030 and building an integrated green hydrogen platform. Under this, Ambuja Cements aims to achieve 60 per cent of its power requirements through renewable and green sources by FY'28, including 1 GW of solar and wind power, as well as 376 MW of WHRS. Of these, it has already achieved 299 MW and 186 MW capacities, respectively. Green hydrogen will play a key role in achieving net-zero. The Group's investments in this space will lead the Companies' net-zero pathways. The shared capabilities with the Group will enable Ambuja Cements and ACC to accelerate emissions reduction and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. This validation is not just a milestone; it is a mandate. Ambuja Cements and ACC are setting new benchmarks for the cement industry, proving that bold climate action is possible, necessary, and already underway. (ANI)
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Chemicals industry struggles to kick its fossil fuel habit
June 10 - In May, Europe passed a milestone in its drive to decarbonise: the opening of the world's first commercial scale e-methanol plant, at Kasso in Denmark. European Energy's facility will produce 42,000 metric tonnes of the liquid fuel for the shipping industry, cutting emissions by as much as 95%, as well as low-carbon plastics for drugmaker Novo Nordisk and toymaker Lego to use in their products. Instead of using hydrogen derived from natural gas, three Siemens electrolysers convert renewable energy from Europe's largest solar park into green hydrogen, which is combined with CO2 captured from the local biogas plant to create the synthetic fuel. Excess heat generated from the plant will be used to warm 3,300 households in the local area. But Kasso, and a smattering of other e-methanol plants around the world, are rare examples of disruptive green innovation in an industry that remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels. The $3.5 trillion industry produces primary chemicals such as ammonia, methanol and ethylene, which are omnipresent in our daily lives: they are in 96% of manufactured goods in sectors ranging across healthcare and agriculture to construction, transportation and textiles. The sector accounts for 5-6% of global greenhouse gas emissions – running a close third behind steel and cement – but could steam ahead of them, as its emissions are on track to more than double by 2050 with no intervention, according to an analysis by the Rocky Mountain Institute. A 2022 report by green systems change firm Systemiq and the Center for Global Commons says the fact that the industry also supplies building blocks for the energy transition means the chemicals sector has the potential to reinvent itself as a climate solution, even to go carbon negative, if it can substitute fossil-fuels feedstocks with sustainable sources and ramp up the use of carbon capture and storage. Circular approaches such as reusing and recycling chemicals, meanwhile, could reduce total demand for chemicals by up to 31% by 2050, the report argues. Indeed, more than 70% of the world's top 100 chemicals producers have committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, and even more have set interim targets through the Science Based Targets initiative, according to S&P Commodity Insights. But a new report from Planet Tracker, which benchmarks the climate transition performance of eight of the world's top chemical companies, finds that only two: French industrial gases firm Air Liquide and Australia's Incitec Pivot, have credible targets. Brianne Cangelose, a manager in Rocky Mountain Institute's climate-aligned industries programme, says the industry's complexity and ubiquity means decarbonisation pathways aren't straightforward. 'There's no silver bullet for chemicals – we need a myriad of solutions to effectively reduce emissions from the sector,' she says. Most impactful, however, will be scaling up the development of cleaner sources of hydrogen, which is a core building block of many chemicals and is already widely used in the chemicals industry as a reagent in chemical reactions. It could also provide an alternative process heat source to natural gas. Hydrogen is colour-coded depending on how it is made. Today, that is primarily from steam reforming of natural gas (grey) and gasification of coal (brown). There is also blue hydrogen, where the CO2 from grey hydrogen is captured and stored, and pink hydrogen, made using nuclear energy to power electrolysers, which split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. Only when electrolysers are powered by renewable energy such as solar and wind can hydrogen be considered green. The problem is that less than 1% of all hydrogen produced today is green, due to the high relative cost of renewable energy. Those costs will only increase in the near term, with the Trump administration vowing to cut $15 billion in renewable energy funding, and threatening trade tariffs on China and countries in South-east Asia, where 80% of U.S. solar module imports came from in 2023. Under the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act, $7 billion in funding was allocated to establish seven regional hubs to speed development of cleaner production of hydrogen in the U.S. But while the first tranche of funding was delivered before Biden left office in January, Politico reported in March that four, in primarily Democratic-learning states, are slated to be axed by the Department of Energy under the new Trump administration. However, among those whose funding is expected to be safe is the HyVelocity Hub on the Gulf coast in Texas, where one-third of U.S. hydrogen production capacity is located. Although most of the technology focus will be on blue hydrogen production through CCS, the hub includes Orsted Energy's planned e-methanol facility, which will be powered by onshore wind and solar projects, and uses captured CO2 to create a liquid fuel for marine and aviation applications. In Europe, one startup that claims to have made a breakthrough in affordable clean hydrogen production is U.K.-based HiiROC, which has developed a thermal plasma electrolysis technology to convert methane into hydrogen, without CO2 emissions. The company says its process is as cheap as steam methane reforming (SMR) and can produce hydrogen using a fraction of the energy required by water electrolysis. It also creates a valuable by-product, carbon black, which can be used in commercial applications such as tyres, rubbers, plastics and inks, as well as in the construction industry. HiiROC has raised more than 40 million pounds from investors including Melrose, Wintershall Dea, Centrica, HydrogenOne, Hyundai, Kia and Cemex, which announced late last year that it would deploy HiiROC's low-carbon hydrogen solution at scale at its cement plant at Rugby in the UK. Another technology option for the chemicals industry is to electrify energy-intensive processes, such as steam cracking. Electrification has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 90% compared with using fossil fuels, according to BASF. Last year BASF, SABIC and Linde inaugurated the world's first large-scale demonstration plant to use electricity for its steam cracking furnaces that produce ethylene and propylene. Three years in the making, the demonstration plant at BASF's Verbund site in Ludwigshafen, Germany, is powered by 6 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy and will test two different heating concepts. Dow has also been investigating the viability of e-cracking, along with Shell. In June 2022, it began operations at an experimental e-cracking furnace in Amsterdam, aiming to test equipment that could be retrofitted to existing gas-fired steam cracker furnaces. It was planning to install a multi-megawatt pilot plant this year. In the U.S., meanwhile, Dow and advanced nuclear reactor developer X-energy have applied to build a grid-scale nuclear installation in Texas to produce clean power and industrial steam to decarbonise manufacturing at Dow's 1,900-hectare Seadrift site. However, Bernd Elser, global chemicals lead at Accenture, points out that the potential for renewable energy to decarbonise chemicals production will be restricted by the sheer amount of energy needed. Analysis carried out by the consultancy in 2022 found that the European chemicals industry alone would need additional renewable energy installation of 3.2 petawatt-hours, some five times that energy generated in the EU today, at a cost of around 1 trillion euros. 'This translates into wind turbines covering the whole of Spain, or solar panels on the full land area of Ireland,' he says. The electricity produced also needs to be sold at a competitive price, he adds. The European Chemical Industry Council has warned that the industry is 'at breaking point', facing energy prices five times that of the U.S. and substantial costs of meeting EU green regulations, including phasing out of restricted chemicals. Firms including Dow and LyondellBasell are reported to be reassessing their European footprint, including shutting down some facilities, as a result. They are urging the Commission to expedite the rollout of the affordable energy component of its recently announced Clean Industrial Deal. RMI's Cangelose acknowledges that the cost of more innovative decarbonisation technologies is challenging for the chemicals industry. 'It's a very capitally intensive, somewhat risk-averse industry, with really slim margins, so it's a challenging place to rapidly adopt innovation,' she says. 'It's really going to be a question of how much money we can funnel towards research and development to get these earlier stage technologies off the ground.' There is certainly growing demand for greener chemicals, according to Accenture, whose research found that more than half of consumers are motivated to purchase eco-friendly products, and often willing to pay a premium price for them. One example is in the home and personal care sector, where products with bio-based or sustainable ingredients grew at a rate more than double that of overall growth. Accenture predicts that demand for bio-based chemical products will increase by around 70% through to 2028, rising from $340 billion in 2023 to $570 billion - a rate 4.5 times greater than conventional products. Desire to capture this growth, along with the regulatory push provided by the EU Green Deal and the bloc's Emissions Trading Scheme, will push the European industry along a more sustainable path, Elser says.
Agriland
11-06-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Kepak receives formal approval for climate targets
Irish food company Kepak Group has received formal approval from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for its climate goals. These targets include a 52.3% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, equivalent to eliminating the annual emissions of over 15,000 homes. Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from sources a company owns or controls, such as fuel combustion in company vehicles or manufacturing processes. Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from energy purchased and used, including electricity, heat, or steam. Kepak Kepak is aiming to reach net-zero emissions across its entire value chain by 2050. This SBTi approval confirms Kepak's alignment with the 'most ambitious' 1.5°C pathway outlined by the Paris Agreement. Kepak now joins global food companies, including McDonald's and Tesco, that have received approval for science-based climate targets. 'This is a significant milestone for Kepak as we continue to accelerate our sustainability journey,' Rebecca Thomson, head of sustainability at Kepak Group, said. 'Our targets are not just numbers – they reflect real, measurable action. We are grateful to our partners at Rowan Engineering, the Carbon Trust, and others who have supported us in reaching this point. This is only the beginning,' she added. Tiphaine Aires, associate director with the Carbon Trust, said that 'as a primary processor, Kepak plays a critical role in both supporting and advocating for farm decarbonisation initiatives'. Climate According to Kepak, the company has already delivered 'substantial progress' in reducing emissions driven by a strategy built on three core pillars: site efficiency, heat recovery and electrification, and on-site renewable energy generation. From 2018-2024, the group has achieved a 40% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, along with an 8% reduction in Scope 3 livestock GHG intensity. Over the period, there has been a 29% reduction in water use per tonne of product and 54% renewable electricity across operations (target: 100% by 2030). The group added that there has been a 22% increase in regenerative agriculture practices on beef farms in Ireland and the UK. Kepak's emission reduction strategy includes new technology being deployed at the group's Athleague site targeting a reduction of at least 90% in site heating emissions. Wind turbines at Kepak Cork and Merthyr supply 40% and 14% of their electricity needs, respectively. With approximately 12–15% of additional Scope 1 and 2 reductions required by 2030, Kepak is pursuing further deployment of wind, solar, and anaerobic digestion (AD) infrastructure. There will also be an expansion of heat pump installations across sites, deep retrofitting for energy and process efficiency and continued investment in farm-level carbon reduction programmes. Established in 1966, Kepak now has a turnover of €1.8 billion and employs over 4,500 people. The group operates 14 manufacturing facilities throughout Ireland and the UK with sales offices in Europe, the US and Asia.
Time Magazine
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Time Magazine
This New Tool Will Help Sports Teams Cut Their Carbon Footprint
Sports teams around the world are backing a first of its kind playbook to help the industry measure its carbon footprint. The Carbon Methodology and Calculator for Sport, launched by sustainability and social impact consultancy Think Beyond, aims to create a consistent standard by which teams can measure emissions and make inroads towards climate action. Thirty-five organisations, including World Athletics, Liverpool FC, and LIV Golf have already adopted the approach. The playbook's calculator measures the environmental footprint of everything from fan travel to merchandise. 'If you claim the economic impact, then you have to account for the environmental footprint of it,' Susie Tomson, senior partner at Think Beyond, told TIME. Until now, the industry has lacked a standard, sector-wide approach to measuring its climate impact. The playbook's methodology aligns with the most widely used method for measuring emissions, known as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, as well as the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change's Sports for Climate Action Framework, and the Science Based Targets initiative—but it has translated the frameworks into user-friendly, sports-specific terms. 'We wanted to make sure that we're aligned to Greenhouse Gas Protocol, but we're talking sport language,' says Tomson. Once teams plug in their data, a dashboard shows emissions by category, and will help them track changes year over year. Teams can also break their year down into different footprints, to compare the climate impact of various events throughout the season. The playbook is part of a wider industry effort to go green. Many sports organizations have pledged to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2040 under the U.N. Sports for Climate Action Framework. The 2024 Super Bowl and the Paris Olympics were both powered entirely by renewable energy. But challenges remain. A 2020 estimate found that the global sports industry is responsible for approximately 350 million tonnes of CO2. One study by Scientists for Global Responsibility found that the carbon emissions from the FIFA World Cup alone is equivalent to that of between 31,500 and 51,500 cars driving for one year. At the same time, the industry is also grappling with how to keep games going in the face of climate change. A 2022 study found that half of the former Winter Olympic host cities could be unable to sponsor winter games by 2050 due to melting snow and ice. And in many parts of the world, the impacts of climate change are already impacting events—the U.S. Tennis Association introduced an extreme heat policy after the 2018 U.S. Open where players faced off in 100 degree temperatures at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City. Meanwhile NFL players are swapping out their traditional uniforms for ones in heat reflecting colors. Think Beyond plans to publish an annual State of Sport Carbon Report, which will show where organizations are successfully reducing emissions, and where growth remains. Tomson hopes that the calculator can be used across the industry—from the Olympics to amateur teams. 'The more people who use it, the better traction we're going to get,' she says. 'The more groundswell [of people], all talking the same language, measuring the same thing.'
