BASF shifts acid chlorides portfolio to renewable electricity, cutting emissions, boosting capacity, and enabling customers to reduce carbon footprint seamlessly.
BASF has taken a significant step forward in its sustainability journey by transitioning the production of its entire portfolio of acid chlorides and chloroformates at its Ludwigshafen facility to renewable electricity credits. This move, implemented by BASF’s Intermediates division, reflects a strong commitment to reducing environmental impact while maintaining operational efficiency and product reliability. Since 2025, the site has been producing approximately 25 products under this portfolio using 100 percent renewable electricity credits, including all upstream processes involved in raw material preparation.
The shift to renewable electricity has already delivered measurable environmental benefits. In 2025, the transition resulted in an average reduction of 19 percent in the product carbon footprint (PCF) across the portfolio. BASF anticipates maintaining similar levels of reduction in 2026 and the years ahead, reinforcing its long-term sustainability objectives. Importantly, this transition has been designed to ensure a seamless experience for customers. There is no requirement for recertification, and ordering processes remain unchanged, allowing clients to continue sourcing these products without disruption while benefiting from a significantly lower carbon footprint. This enables customers to make tangible progress in reducing their Scope 3 emissions without altering their existing supply chains or product specifications.
Further strengthening this initiative is the recent modernization of production assets at the Ludwigshafen Verbund site. This upgrade has increased BASF’s production capacity for acid chlorides and chloroformates by around 30 percent. As a result, the environmental benefits achieved through renewable electricity usage now extend across a larger production volume, enhancing both sustainability impact and supply reliability. The expanded capacity also positions BASF to better meet growing global demand for these critical chemical intermediates while ensuring long-term supply security.
According to Alisha Van Dyck, Vice President of Business Management for Acetylenics, Carbonyl Derivatives, Acids & Polyalcohols Europe within BASF’s Intermediates division, the company’s approach ensures that customers do not have to choose between sustainability and product availability. By modernizing production infrastructure and adopting renewable energy sources, BASF is translating customer expectations into measurable and verifiable carbon reductions throughout the value chain.
This initiative aligns with BASF’s broader ambition to become the preferred partner for enabling customers’ green transformation. It follows earlier efforts, including the global conversion of the company’s amines portfolio to renewable electricity. BASF continues to expand its portfolio of sustainable solutions, offering both biobased and biomass-balanced variants for several products within the acid chloride and chloroformate range. Examples include biobased palmitoyl chloride, octanoyl chloride, and ethyl chloroformate, along with biomass-balanced variants such as isononanoyl chloride.
As one of the world’s leading producers of these chemicals, with an annual capacity of approximately 60,000 metric tons and production facilities in Germany and South Korea, BASF supplies essential intermediates used in pharmaceuticals, crop protection, and organic peroxide manufacturing. By integrating renewable electricity across its entire portfolio, the company is providing customers worldwide with practical, scalable opportunities to lower their carbon footprint without requiring any changes to existing processes.
