Lanxess, Entergy partner for bold CO2 reduction goals in Arkansas

PITTSBURGH—Lanxess Corp. plans to "significantly reduce" its CO2 footprint at two chemical plants in Arkansas, following the establishment of a partnership with the firm's utility provider in the state.

Entergy Arkansas, through its GoZERO program, offers a less energy-intensive portfolio for major companies, Lanxess said May 22.

As such, Lanxess' plans to eliminate the entirety of its Scope 2 emissions (external energy sources) in Little Rock; and cut its Scope 2 emissions by 82 percent at its three facilities in El Dorado.

In aggregate, the measures should cut about 76,000 tons of CO2 emissions.

"This agreement is an incredibly important step for us along our continuous journey to reduce emissions and become climate neutral by 2040," said Frederique van Baarle, president and CEO of Lanxess Corp. and member of the Lanxess A.G. Board of Management. "We are thankful that Entergy Arkansas was able to develop this program and help one of our largest U.S. energy-using sites (El Dorado) become more environmentally friendly while allowing our Little Rock site to achieve zero Scope 2 emissions."

According to Lanxess, Entergy offers a combination of clean and renewable sources.

"We are proud to provide clean energy options like GoZERO and Green Promise to help Lanxess meet their sustainability goals," said Laura Landreaux, president and CEO of Entergy Arkansas. "As we plan for future growth, we will continue working with our customers to expand our clean energy offerings to help them lower their Scope 2 emissions even further.

"It's a win-win-win for Lanxess, Entergy Arkansas and the environment."

The 76,000 tons of CO2 to be eliminated are a combination of 66,000 tons from the GoZERO program; and 10,000 tons from a 2022 agreement through Green Promise at the El Dorado sites (west, south and central facilities, all part of Lanxess' polymer additives division).

The 76,000-ton reduction is "equivalent to the annual output of electricity usage from roughly 10,000 homes," according to U.S. EPA statistics.

"While this is a tremendous milestone for our operations in Arkansas, Lanxess will continue to explore similar programs and new technologies with our utility partners across the U.S.to further support our aggressive sustainability goals," van Baarle said.

Lanxess announced its 2040 climate-neutral goal in 2019, through a reduction of production emissions (Scope 1); and external energy sources.

Lanxess also has stated that it will eliminate Scope 3 emissions (entire supply chain) by 2050.

In addition to Arkansas, Entergy supplies power for more than three million customers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Lanxess' global headquarters are in Cologne, Germany, and its North American center is in Pittsburgh. The Little Rock facility is part of Lanxess' Rhein Chemie business unit.