BASF’s Intermediates division has taken a significant step toward advancing its sustainability strategy by converting the entire portfolio of acid chlorides and chloroformates produced at its Ludwigshafen site to run on 100 percent renewable electricity credits.
Since 2025, the production facility has been manufacturing around 25 products using renewable electricity credits, including all upstream raw-material processes. As a result, BASF has successfully integrated renewable energy into the entire production chain, reinforcing its commitment to lowering emissions and promoting sustainable chemical manufacturing.
Significant Reduction in Product Carbon Footprint
The transition has already delivered measurable environmental benefits. In 2025, BASF achieved an average 19 percent reduction in product carbon footprint (PCF) across its acid chloride and chloroformate portfolio. The company expects similar reductions in 2026 and the years ahead.
Importantly, customers can adopt these lower-carbon products without making operational changes. BASF continues to supply the chemicals without requiring recertification, specification changes, or modifications to ordering processes. This seamless transition allows customers to reduce Scope 3 emissions while maintaining consistent product performance and supply reliability.
Modernized Ludwigshafen Facility Boosts Capacity
At the same time, BASF has completed the modernization of a major production asset at the Ludwigshafen Verbund site. The upgraded facility has increased production capacity for chloroformates and acid chlorides by approximately 30 percent.
Consequently, the improved product carbon footprint now applies to a significantly larger production volume, strengthening BASF’s ability to meet growing global demand while ensuring long-term supply security.
Alisha Van Dyck, Vice President Business Management Acetylenics, Carbonyl Derivatives, Acids & Polyalcohols Europe at BASF, said, “Modernizing our asset and converting to renewable electricity means our customers for acid chlorides and chloroformates don’t have to choose between sustainability and availability. This move reflects our commitment to translating our customers’ needs into concrete, verifiable CO₂ reductions across their value chains.”
Supporting BASF’s Broader Sustainability Goals
The move also aligns with BASF’s broader ambition to become the preferred chemical partner supporting customers’ green transformation. Notably, the initiative follows BASF’s global transition of its amines portfolio to renewable electricity in the previous year, highlighting the company’s ongoing effort to expand renewable energy use across its intermediates business.
In addition, BASF already offers biobased and biomass-balanced (BMB) variants for several acid chlorides and chloroformates. These include biobased products such as palmitoyl chloride, octanoyl chloride, and ethyl chloroformate, as well as biomass-balanced variants for isononanoyl chloride.
With the entire portfolio now produced using renewable electricity credits, BASF is further transforming its product range while enabling customers to lower their carbon footprint without altering product specifications or manufacturing processes.
Key Supplier of Chemical Intermediates
BASF remains one of the world’s leading manufacturers of chloroformates, acid chlorides, and alkyl chlorides, with a combined annual production capacity of about 60,000 metric tons. The company operates major production facilities in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Yeosu, South Korea. As per the press release, these intermediates play a crucial role in numerous industries. Customers use them as key synthesis building blocks for pharmaceuticals, crop protection products, and organic peroxides, supporting a wide range of advanced chemical applications worldwide.
