Market Scenario RCI Publishes Report on Carbon Footprints of Renewable Carbon-based Chemicals, Materials

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The Renewable Carbon Initiative (RCI) published its latest report ‘Case Studies Based on Peer-reviewed Life Cycle Assessments – Carbon Footprints of Different Renewable Carbon-based Chemicals and Materials’. The report revealed that renewable carbon-based materials exhibited significant lower CO2 footprint than its fossil counterparts.

Hürth/Germany – In the report, the RCI summarizes and presents five peer-reviewed LCA case studies – representing the highest possible scientific standard – that examine the carbon footprint of materials and products made from renewable carbon. These five products and the respective LCAs are from the RCI members Avantium (NL), BASF (DE), IFF (US), Lenzing (AT) and Neste (FI), and have all been peer-reviewed by external, independent experts.

In times of “Code Red” warnings by the UN on climate change, the carbon footprint of chemical and materials is one of the most crucial indicators. Fossil resources are the main cause of human-made climate change, responsible for more than 70 % of global warming. Where feasible, like in the energy sector, decarbonization reduces the dependence on carbon as a feedstock. But for carbon-dependent industries, defossilization is the right strategy to eliminate additional influx of fossil carbon into our carbon cycles and the atmosphere – and at the same time we need to ensure that the alternatives really reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

To achieve defossilization, renewable carbon feedstocks, which can be bio-based, CO2-based or recycled, need to substitute the dominant fossil feedstock in the production of chemicals and materials. These sectors rely on carbon as a feedstock and cannot do without. A key aspect of replacing fossil carbon with renewable carbon is the gained circularity of carbon. The principle advantage of renewable carbon feedstock is that it originates from atmosphere, biosphere and technosphere and therefore does not bring additional fossil carbon from the ground into the carbon cycle above ground. Instead, these feedstocks help to build and realize a truly circular economy and circular carbon loops.

All in all, the here presented materials and products show significantly reduced carbon footprints compared to their established fossil counterparts already today. The brochure visualizes that there are not only competitive materials and products made of renewable carbon already on the market, but that they also show significantly reduced carbon footprints compared to their established fossil counterparts. These reductions ranging from 30–90 % but at the same time, these materials and products still have significant potential to further reduce emissions in the future.

The introduction states: “As you delve into this brochure, we invite you to consider the implications of renewable carbon-based materials on climate change. We believe the case studies provide essential information to guide policy decisions in our pursuit of our climate and net-zero targets.”

One key implication is that the less additional fossil carbon is added to our above-ground cycle, the smaller will be the amount of carbon emissions that have to be balanced out with expensive atmospheric removal and underground storage of carbon.

The full report can be downloaded https://renewable-carbon.eu/publications/product/rci-scientific-background-report-2023 .

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