Lanxess AG (Cologne, Germany) announced an agreement with its utility provider, Entergy Arkansas, to significantly reduce emissions related to powering the company’s sites in Arkansas.
The new agreement reduces LANXESS’ Scope 2 emissions – external energy sources – by utilizing a combination of clean and renewable energy produced in Arkansas. The company’s three facilities in El Dorado are expected to see an 82% reduction in indirect greenhouse gas emissions associated with the purchase of energy, or Scope 2 emissions, while it’s anticipated that the Little Rock facility will achieve a full 100% reduction.
“This agreement is an incredibly important step for us along our continuous journey to reduce emissions and become climate neutral by 2040,” said Frederique van Baarle, President & CEO of LANXESS Corporation and member of the LANXESS AG Board of Management. “We are thankful that Entergy Arkansas was able to develop this program and help one of our largest U.S. energy-using sites (El Dorado) become more environmentally-friendly while allowing our Little Rock site to achieve zero Scope 2 emissions.”
The emissions reduction is part of Entergy’s Go ZERO (Zero Emissions Resource Options) and Green Promise programs, which offer commercial and industrial customers customizable options for clean energy.
“We are proud to provide clean energy options like Go ZERO and Green Promise to help LANXESS meet their sustainability goals,” said Laura Landreaux, president and CEO of Entergy Arkansas. “As we plan for future growth, we will continue working with our customers to expand our clean energy offerings to help them lower their Scope 2 emissions even further. It’s a win-win-win for LANXESS, Entergy Arkansas and the environment.”
The Go ZERO program contract with LANXESS eliminates 66,000 tons of CO2 emissions, which is a follow-up to a 2022 agreement through the Green Promise that began reducing 10,000 tons of CO2 at LANXESS’ El Dorado sites. This annual reduction of over 76,000 tons of CO2 emissions is equivalent to the annual output of electricity usage from roughly 10,000 homes, according to U.S. EPA statistics.
“While this is a tremendous milestone for our operations in Arkansas, LANXESS will continue to explore similar programs and new technologies with our utility partners across the U.S.to further support our aggressive sustainability goals,” said van Baarle.
In 2019, LANXESS became one of the first global chemical companies to announce a climate neutral goal, striving to meet that by 2040 through reducing emissions at production facilities (Scope 1) and from external energy sources (Scope 2). The company also announced intentions to make its entire supply chain, including Scope 3 emissions, climate-neutral by 2050.
LANXESS, with its global headquarters in Cologne, Germany and regional headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, operates three facilities in El Dorado – the West, South and Central Plants – within the company’s Polymer Additives Business Unit, as well as a facility in Little Rock, which is part of the Rhein Chemie Business Unit.
Entergy is an integrated energy company that provides power for 3 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.