Rudong becomes BASF Agricultural Solutions’ first CO₂-emission-free production site

Date:10-10-2024

• Site operates fully on renewable energy, contributing to BASF’s 2050 Net Zero Target

• Rudong site to switch from fossil-based steam to renewable energy for its heating system

• BASF to procure renewable energy via a long-term agreement from local energy company

The BASF production site in Rudong, China has reduced CO₂ emissions to zero¹ by modifying its existing site heating system from steam to electricity generated from renewable energy. As a result, the facility in the Chinese province of Jiangsu is the first site of BASF’s Agricultural Solutions segment to be CO₂ emission-free¹.

Since 2021, the Rudong site switched to electricity from renewable energy sources, making steam the largest contributor to the site’s CO₂ emissions. In June 2024, the existing steam heating system was decommissioned and fully replaced with a renewable energy supply. The result of which is an additional CO₂ emission reduction of around 1,100 tons per year. Along with achieving zero CO₂ emissions in Rudong, BASF has also signed an agreement with a local electricity supplier to ensure a long-term supply of renewable energies to power the site.

″The achievement in Rudong underlines our determination to deliver on the demand of our customers and society for low-emission, high-quality crop protection products,″ said Christian Aucoin, Senior Vice President Global Operations at BASF Agricultural Solutions. ″It is a major step to transform traditional manufacturing processes, living up to our sustainability commitments in agriculture.″

In Rudong, BASF Agricultural Solutions formulates crop protection products for China and other markets in the Asia-Pacific region. By producing without emitting CO₂ (Scope 1 and 2), the site contributes to reducing BASF’s corporate carbon footprint – per the company's target of 25% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 compared to 2018 and helps meet its overall ambitions of achieving net zero CO₂ emissions globally by 2050 (Scopes 1, 2, 3.1). (Read more) BASF has published a comprehensive corporate carbon footprint since 2008, the only industrial enterprise worldwide to do so.

¹ Scope 1 & 2. For more information, refer to BASF corporate carbon footprint here