Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions, Industrial  -  June 29, 2023

Ascend Makes Its Plants More Energy Efficient

Ascend Performance Materials made significant progress on its sustainability strategy, including a 64% reduction in Scope 1 GHG emissions. It also increased its renewable energy use from 20% to 26%.

The company committed to a more ambitious reduction target, which increased from 80% to 90%. Ascend participates in a carbon market to monetize part of its emissions reductions and reinvests the proceeds in other sustainability initiatives.

Highlights are detailed in its 2022 Sustainability Report.

“Our annual sustainability reports offer us a moment to recognize and celebrate the tremendous efforts of our people,” said Chris Johnson, Ascend’s Senior Director of Sustainability, in a statement. “As a company, we are focused on making progress across our business to benefit our people, our customers, and our communities. That’s what sustainability means to us.”

In 2022, the company launched key renewable energy projects. Specifically, it signed a PPA with Calpine for an acrylonitrile plant in Texas, which is 30% powered by solar. This helped make the solar farm economically viable and bring its electricity to the Texas grid.

Ascend has also made the operations of its compounding sites carbon neutral through Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). At its South Carolina plant, it made a repair to steam leaks to make steam generation more efficient, which helped save over 10,000 metric tons of CO2e emissions last year.

Ascend is intent on reducing its emissions and converting those reductions into permanent carbon offset credits. The company implemented a project to tackle N₂O emissions from its production by using a catalyst to convert N₂O into nitrogen and oxygen, which are two harmless elements. This initiative will remove approximately 300,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually.

Additionally, the company introduced its Energy Efficiency Excellence program to all of its sites, which focuses on identifying projects where it can reduce energy consumption, including steam, electricity, and other areas. These teams of engineers are actively working to reduce energy usage. With their efforts, there’s been the discovery of more opportunities for energy conservation.