Technically feasible, challenging in scale
A realistic pathway towards a net-zero carbon chemical industry
Pathway to a net-zero carbon chemical industry is technically feasible but requires significant scale and infrastructure for green hydrogen production.
The chemical industry is one of the cornerstones of modern society, underpinning sectors such as energy, mobility, agriculture, and healthcare. At the same time, it is responsible for around six percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. In a Scientific Perspective published in Angewandte Chemie, Prof. Ferdi Schüth, Director at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, and Prof. Stephan A. Schunk, Executive Expert - Vice President at hte GmbH & BASF SE, show that converting chemical production to near greenhouse gas neutrality is already technically feasible today.
In chemical processes fossil carbon generates energy used and is embedded directly in chemical products as a feedstock material. Rather than redesigning tens of thousands of individual products, the authors propose concentrating on a relatively small number of platform chemicals that form the basis of most chemical value chains. If we produce these key building blocks with little or no carbon footprint, a large share of today’s chemical production could be decarbonized utilizing existing processes and infrastructure. At the center of the transition are a few essential feedstocks, most notably hydrogen, methanol, and ammonia. For all three, climate-friendly production routes are already established. Green hydrogen is produced via electrolysis powered by renewable electricity. Methanol one of the most important C₁ building blocks in the chemical industry can be synthesized from captured carbon dioxide and green hydrogen. Ammonia, another major chemical commodity, can be produced using the Haber–Bosch process with green hydrogen. While continued research is important, the fundamental chemistry and technical production processes are available.
The main challenge discussed by the authors is scale: Converting today’s chemical industry to climate-neutral feedstocks would require about 200 million tons of green hydrogen per year. Producing this amount via electrolysis would correspond to roughly 40 percent of current global electricity generation. Therefore, achieving a net-zero chemical industry will depend on economic conditions, infrastructure development, and access to low-cost renewable energy. Early action, sustained innovation, and supportive regulatory frameworks like incentives and carbon taxes will be essential. Delaying the transition will only increase the difficulty and cost of reaching climate neutrality in the decades ahead.
