Wacker addresses climate change with net-zero goals

MUNICH—As the world warms, Wacker Chemie A.G. continues to place an emphasis on sustainability, setting benchmarks for products in the automotive, construction and food industries and offering solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"Climate change is one of the most important and most urgent challenges of mankind," Peter Gigler, Wacker's director of corporate sustainability said during a recent webinar. "Our responsibility to combat this change is not just a societal responsibility ... it is a responsibility for me as a person, as a father of two young children.

"And Wacker has accepted this challenge."

Wacker aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030, aligning with the Paris Climate Agreement. Gigler noted that 49 billion pounds of greenhouse gases are released annually, typically from energy, agriculture and land use, and specifically via the construction and transportation industries for energy usage.

While the chemical industry accounts for about 6 percent of these emissions, there is enormous potential to reduce them, Gigler said.

"Our mission is twofold—to reduce our own ... and help others to reduce theirs," he said.

Wacker is eyeing CO2-neutral silicon metal production—one of the most important building blocks for silicone—formed from silicone dioxide and carbon (and a whole lot of electricity).

Silicone is one of Wacker's chief commercial products, as the company supplies about one-third of its stock toward photovoltaic semiconductor applications. Such applications are in high demand in the automotive and electric vehicle industry as well as in just about any market that contains electronics.

But to forge silicon metal in a foundry (Wacker has a production facility in Norway) requires coal, and coal means unavoidable CO2 emissions.

"What we can do is replace fossil coal with bio-coal, capture the CO2 that is generated and store it for other uses—or make new chemistry out of it," Gigler said. "We are working on both options to achieve this."

Wacker also aims to use energy more efficiently, Gigler said, replacing fossil-based steam generation with renewable alternatives.

"We can use the unavoidable CO2 as raw material for other products," he said, citing Wacker's proposed Rhyme Bavaria plant in Burghausen, Germany. The facility is being touted as a 20-megawatt plant that ultimately would produce renewable hydrogen and methanol, the latter of which is a key raw material in silicone production.

To get the project off the ground, the company is seeking funding in the "double-digit" millions of dollars range from the European Union, specifically from the European Commission's EU Innovation Fund.

Overall, Wacker expects a $110.2 million investment for the expansion.

The facility will use electrolysis to make hydrogen from water using renewable electricity. Wacker said it will use CO2 from the aforementioned legacy production processes to turn the green hydrogen into renewable methanol.

Rhyme Bavaria is estimated to produce 15,000 metric tons of methanol per year should it come to fruition, however a precondition is a competitive energy price of 4 cents per kilowatt hour—and energy prices in Germany remain much higher than they are in other places around the world, Wacker said.

In addition, renewable energy sources to generate the electrolysis to produce the hydrogen (that is combined with CO2 to make the methanol that makes the silicone) also require further expansion.

"Our clear goal is to achieve net zero for Wacker in 2045," Gigler said. "We have to strive for a circular economy in our feedstocks ... and we have to close material loops—recognize what is happening with our products after they leave Wacker and how they can be reused again."

The entire premise of the electric vehicle revolution is to reduce the greenhouse gases produced by internal combustion engines and their production. That makes the automotive industry a major focus for sustainability.

"Rightfully, e-vehicles are considered a solution," said Klaus Angermaier, Wacker's head of business activities for industrial solutions for Europe and South America.
Whether the e-mobility in question is via battery EVs or plug-in hybrids, silicones will play a key part—and not only in seals and gaskets, but in insulators, electrical and optical components.

"Silicones are not new to the (auto) industry," Angermaier said. "A typical ICE car uses between 2 and 3 kilograms of silicone elastomers in more than 100 different parts."

As driver-assistance systems become more prominent—consider heads-up displays and entire front windshields that provide visual cues—so will electronic control units and related sensors, all of which require silicone.

"As displays get larger, that communication is crucial between the car and driver," Angermaier said.

For instance, on a bright, sunny day, it is essential that there is no reflection from the windshield and that there exists a clear view of the entire display.

"Optically clear adhesives allow this," he said. "When light travels from one medium to another, that light gets reflected as it travels from air, through glass, and back into the air again. Using silicone is crucial for this optical bonding for the best systems view.

"And only silicones can do this, as they are stable when they come into contact with UV light."

The elastomer also contributes to EV batteries and fuel cells as insulation—dissipating heat away from the device to avoid overheating, or "thermal runaway"—and is prominent in high voltage cables that transport electric power.

"If an incident occurs, we want to keep heat and flames inside the housing for as long as possible," Angermaier said. "To do this, we need to protect the housing covering the battery cells.

"All of this is ongoing research and development work that is attracting considerable interest with major OEMs."

The world population is estimated to reach about 10 billion people by 2060, and that poses some serious challenges to the construction industry, according to Tanja Gebhart, director of sustainable building solutions for Wacker Polymers.

By 2025, about $17 trillion could be spent in the U.S. alone, where construction is estimated to double its current levels. And while this is good news for Wacker's dispersions, used in adhesives, non-wovens, coatings and paints, it's a major source of GHGs.

Dispersions typically are used in the consumer and industrial markets, powders mainly are found in the construction space as a binder—offering strength and enhanced flexibility in ceramic tile adhesives and waterproofing materials.

Gebhart noted that about 75 percent of tile adhesives (globally) are not yet polymer-modified, which requires only a "minimum amount of mortar" and can offer far great durability.

Using Wacker's dispersible powders in ceramic tile adhesives can "cut consumption of raw materials, lower CO2 emissions and offer savings in cement and sand," Gebhart said.

"This definitely is a strategic focus area for Wacker Polymers," she said.

To wit, if a 1 kilogram weight is dropped onto non-modified tile, the tile is crushed immediately, a result that was confirmed by physical testing during the webinar.

"The polymer-modified tile works like a cushion," Gebhart said, as another 1 kilogram weight fell on modified tile—and the tile laid firm.

In addition, Gebhart said wall insulation will be key to the construction industry—globally, certainly, but specifically in the European Union as the continent moves toward GHG reduction with the EU Green Deal.

"More than 200 million homes in the EU alone fail to meet energy efficiency standards," she said. "And the EU Green Deal aims to renovate 35 million homes by 2030 to begin to meet those goals. Wall insulation will play a major role, conserving energy efficiency by up to 70 percent."

Wacker will look to its patented External Thermal Insulation Composite System, used in combination with vinyl acetates as a base coat and finishing coat that are polymer-modified.

The modified vinyl acetate has been tested in the hottest climates in the world, where about 60-percent less energy use was observed in ETICS-treated homes.

"This is a very sustainable solution for all climate zones," Gebhart said. "And there are no changes needed by the customer, as the product is chemically identical to the Vinnapas grades they know."

The product can be applied to facades, basement floors, interior walls, wet areas and concrete, according to Wacker.