Air Products and Chemicals
From WikiClimate
Company Details
- Company name: Air Products & Chemicals
- Country: USA
- Sub Sector: Speciality Chemicals
- Industry Group: Materials
- Parent Sector: Materials
Air Products and Chemicals produces atmospheric gases for industry, electronic materials for semiconductors, chemicals for coatings and adhesives, liquified natural gas heat exchanges, hydrogen and fueling infrastructure for the hydrogen economy and homecare services for hospital outpatients.
It has 21,000 employees around the world, operations in more than 40 countries, annual revenues of over $10 billion and was ranked 258th in sales among Fortune magazine’s May 2008 list of the 500 largest U.S. corporations.
Carbon Disclosure
The following data is © Carbon Disclosure Project and was provided by Air Products in response to the Carbon Disclosure Project Greenhouse Gas Emissions questionnaires.
Regulatory risks
Air Products has operations within jurisdictions that have, or are developing, regulations governing emissions of GHG. Existing and expanding coverage under the EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS), mandatory reporting and reductions at manufacturing facilities in Alberta, Canada, and mandatory reporting and anticipated constraints on GHG emissions in California and Ontario, Canada are current impacts. Additionally, US Federal mandatory GHG emission reporting rules are expected within the next two years. Air Products strives to mitigate the potential compliance costs for these regulatory risks by working closely with our customers and by engaging at an early stage in the regulatory process.
Physical risks
Air Products does not have a unique risk profile with respect to potential physical impacts attributed to climate change. Like many companies, we have assets and customers located in coastal zones around the world that could, under conditions of significant sea level rise, be impacted in varying degrees. The probability, magnitude and timing of such physical risks are difficult to quantify with any confidence at this stage. Nonetheless, Air Products manages its channels of supply recognizing the potential for business disruption of our own, our suppliers’ or our customers’ operations. Air Products manages all physical risks, regardless of their cause, consistent with our overall commercial and asset risk profile. Air Products operates in over 40 countries around the world, supplying a diversity of markets. This diversity provides further protection from any dislocations resulting from physical risks potentially attributed to climate change.
General risks
Air Products’ business portfolio has certain defensive characteristics that should help minimize general risks, including those potentially attributed to climate change. Air Products has diversified product offerings, serves broad markets and geographies, and contractually limits its exposure to swings in energy and raw material prices in many of its businesses. Air Products’ technologies and products are essential in many manufacturing processes in the following industries: electronics, pulp and paper, medical, food, glass, metals, chemicals, power generation, oil and gas production and refining, adhesives, automotive products, paints and coatings, and building products. The diversity of this customer base further mitigates the potential commercial impacts related to specific industrial sectors. In addition, Air Products’ continual focus on improving energy efficiency helps further mitigate potential general risks as a result of climate change.
General and regulatory risks management
As noted above, Air Products business portfolio diversity, geographic breadth, and energy efficiency focus provide multiple dimensions to mitigate general, regulatory and physical risks.
As a founding member of the Business Environmental Leadership Council of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in 1998 and a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the UK Carbon Capture and Storage Association, Canada's Integrated CO2 Network and other organizations, we are part of a number of business-led initiatives working to advocate pragmatic policies and solutions for climate change.
Current and/or future financial effects of risks
Air Products has a multi-disciplinary GHG Strategy Team which identifies and provides preliminary assessment of potential financial and operating impacts on our business plan. This team, with representation across all business areas, engages the specific business unit(s) potentially impacted and supports more detailed analysis of the risks and opportunities, as requested by the targeted business sector(s). We work closely with our customers to understand the full impact of the issue and to develop cost effective solutions. Air Products has also formed a multi-disciplinary Sustainability Council which reports to the CEO and provides updates to the Environmental, Safety and Public Policy Committee of the Board of Directors. In addition, Air Products recently added GHG and sustainability considerations to core processes such as product development, R&D, EH&S risk assessment and capital spending authorization.
Opportunities presented by current or anticipated regulatory requirements on climate change
Air Products believes that climate change presents more opportunities for Air Products than commercial risks. Governmental actions and public concern regarding the climate change issue will increase demand for technologies that produce cleaner fuels, facilitate alternate fuel source development, and improve energy efficiency. Air Products has built a reputation as a worldwide leader in the development and supply of innovative energy technologies and as a leader in the efficient use of power and natural gas. Climate change concerns are already providing Air Products with numerous business opportunities.
General opportunities presented by climate change
Air Products is well positioned to respond to the commercial opportunities resulting from the global response to the climate change issue. Air Products is a leading solution provider for energy intensive industries, providing efficiency and environmental enhancements to our customers’ processes and operations. Air Products continues its significant investments in technology development that can yield GHG reduction benefits for our own operations and those of our customers.
Planned investment in products and services designed to minimise/adapt to effects of climate change
Some examples of specific Air Products investment opportunities responding to climate change include:
• CO2 Capture and Purification Technologies [Link: Air Products CO2 Capture and Purification Technologies]
Leveraging our existing competencies and collaborating with leading companies, governments and universities around the world, we are developing a suite of specialized CO2 capture technologies to enable cost effective and environmentally sound CO2 capture, purification and compression that will be suitable for various forms of geological storage. Our focus is on providing solutions for natural gas reforming, gasification and new-build oil-fired and coal-fired power plants as well as providing solutions for retrofitting the large installed base of existing coal-fired assets.
- Solutions for natural gas reforming - In our operations today, Air Products has experience with the capture of CO2 from natural gas reforming and we continue to work on incremental and step change improvements. One example is our work with the novel precombustion decarbonization technology referred to as the Sorption Enhanced Water Gas Shift process (SEWGS). SEWGS is attractive for de-carbonizing gas turbine fuel, and hence provides opportunities for power generation with minimal CO2 emissions, high power efficiency and potentially lower cost of capturing CO2 for storage. This SEWGS process development is an integral part of the CACHET project coordinated by BP [Link: CACHET Project].
- Solutions for gasification - While gasification offers the opportunity for low cost CO2 capture, the traditional acid gas removal systems are expensive and consume a significant amount of power. Air Products is developing novel CO2 removal systems which boost overall plant efficiency while improving CO2 capture cost. Air Products also has operational experience in the current acid gas removal technology for capture of CO2 from gasification processes.
- Oxyfuel Combustion and CO2 Capture Technology - Air Products is a leader in developing process schemes and burner designs that allow for oxygen-based combustion of fossil fuels. Removing atmospheric nitrogen from the combustion air in conventional combustion processes allows for more efficient and cost-effective post-combustion removal of flue gas components – including CO2. This flue gas stream contains impurities that need to be removed from the CO2 stream before it is introduced into a transport pipeline to prevent corrosion and comply with possible regulations for sequestration. There may also be other stringent requirements on purity, particularly for applications such as enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Air Products is developing a specialized CO2 compression and purification technology to address these constraints.
Oxyfuel technology is not only amenable to new-build supercritical power plants, but also provides a solution for retrofitting the large installed base of existing coal and oil-fired assets. Oxyfuel combustion combined with our patent-pending advances in CO2 removal and purification technology and CO2 sequestration techniques offers a viable route to low-carbon electricity production.
Air Products can further provide CO2 separation technology, using membranes, adsorption, absorption and cryogenic systems.
• A new air separation technology—Ion Transport Membrane Oxygen (ITM) is an enabler for advanced clean power and can reduce the cost of gasification. ITM is based on ceramic membranes that selectively transport oxygen ions when operated at high temperature and is being developed by an Air Products-led team in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Under the influence of an oxygen partial pressure driving force, the ITM oxygen process achieves a high-purity, high flux separation of oxygen from air. By integrating the oxygen-depleted, non-permeate stream with a gas turbine system, the overall process co-produces high-purity oxygen, power, and steam if desired. As a result, the technology is ideally suited for advanced power generation processes that require oxygen as a feedstock for gasification or combustion, making IGCC and oxygen-enriched combustion ideal applications for ITM Oxygen technology.
• Energy Integrated Liquefied Natural Gas Solutions – Air Products has partnered with LNG importers to recapture energy from the vaporization of LNG as it enters distribution pipeline systems and provides nitrogen diluent to adjust the heat content of the distributed gas, matching existing conventional natural gas supplies and uses. Air Products entered into a joint venture to bring the first plant of this kind to China. Air Products has also developed technology ideally suited for LNG transporters to provide dry inert gas to safeguard their cargo.
• Hydrogen Vehicle Fueling – Air Products is the world leader in stationary and mobile hydrogen fueling station technology. As alternative hydrogen production technologies advance to provide low-carbon hydrogen sources, Air Products fueling technologies offer to make hydrogen transportation a reality. During 2007, Air Products commissioned its 75th hydrogen fueling station [Link: Air Products’ Technology Inside Shell’s New York Hydrogen Fueling Station] adding new hydrogen stations in Irvine, CA, Selfridge, MI, White Plains, NY, and Seoul, Korea.
• Hydrogen Energy – Air Products has partnered with FuelCell Energy, Inc. to demonstrate a tri-generating green energy system capable of providing low-cost hydrogen, electric power and heat from one integrated unit. The tri-generation system (hydrogen, electricity and heat) is designed to operate on renewable fuel sources, such as anaerobic digester gas from industrial or municipal wastewater treatment facilities, as well as readily available fuels, including natural gas and propane. In cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, the companies are currently conducting a field trial followed by a test installation at the Orange County Sanitation District’s Fountain Valley, CA wastewater treatment facility [Link: Bloomberg News Release – Hydrogen from Sewage Treatment].
• Alternative Cleaning Process Technologies - Air Products continues to advance the technology for replacement of C2F6 cleaning agent for silicon chip production facilities with NF3, nitrogen trifluoride. Nitrogen trifluoride is the most efficient chamber cleaning option (>99% utilization for most chamber cleaning processes) where other PFC alternatives are only 15-70% efficient, contributing to high global warming gas emissions of PFCs. Air Products continues to reduce our customers’ emissions by helping them to optimize their chamber cleaning processes. Since 1998, our global team of specialists has successfully optimized over 100 different processes for more than 20 customers worldwide. Air Products is also working with flat panel display manufacturers to replace SF6 with NF3 for chamber cleaning, which has resulted in an 88% reduction in PFC emissions from those processes.
• Specialty Materials to Improve Photovoltaic Cell Production – Air Products offers a suite of specialty gas and chemical products that can improve the production of photovoltaic cells. Air Products’ expertise in applications of these high-performance materials is helping to advance this climate-friendly energy technology. A typical example is Air Products recent selection to provide ultra-pure and specialty gases to support a new photovoltaic module production facility in Germany. [Link: Signet Solar agreement]
Future financial effects of opportunities presented by climate change
Air Products assess the financial implications of each business opportunity on its own merits – based upon our position in the business, our technology estate, and the anticipated market characteristics. Air Products recognizes business impacts from climate change as one of several factors in business strategic planning.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Greenhouse Gas emissions methodology used: GHG Protocol
Air Products calculates its corporate-wide emissions using the U.S. EPA Climate Leaders GHG Inventory Guidance, which defines how partner companies, working with EPA, inventory and report their GHG emissions. This Guidance is based on the existing GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard developed by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Climate Leaders GHG Inventory Guidance details methodologies for quantifying emissions from Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. A formal Inventory Management Plan was developed and accepted by the Climate Leaders Program in May 2008. In addition, The Climate Leaders’ technical staff reviewed the calculation process, emission factors and assumption used for the estimate, and validated the data compilation work process through comprehensive site visits to five operating sites
- Accounting year: 01/01/2007 to 31/12/2007
- Total global Scope 1 activity in Metric Tonnes CO2-e emitted: 13,000,000
- Total global Scope 2 activity in metric tonnes CO2-e emitted: 9,000,000
