1、April 2023Chemicals PracticeDecarbonizing the chemical industryMeeting decarbonization targets requires reducing CO emissions from the difficult-to-abate chemical industry.The German chemical industry exemplifies what can be done if four levers are pulled.This article is a collaborative effort by We

2、nke Bengtsson,Peter Crispeels,Simon Knapp,Ken Somers,Ulrich Weihe,and Thomas Weskamp,representing views from McKinseys Chemicals Practice.Chemicals is one of the largest industries worldwide,with annual revenue of approximately$4.7 trillion.1 In addition,the products it creates are deeply embedded i

3、n the worlds largest value chains,such as manufacturing and construction.In 2021,the chemical industrys global emissions totaled approximately 925 million metric tons(MT)of CO,2 accounting for around 2 percent of total emissions.Meanwhile,the industry has been subject to fundamental shifts,including

4、 increased consumer demand for lower-carbon products and increased consumer awareness of recycling and the use of recycled materials;greater demand for resource-efficient production;and heightened regulatory pressure for tighter material requirements.As one of the most energy-intensive industries in

5、 Europe,chemicals can play a special role in restructuring the energy system and reducing CO emissions.With this in mind,we studied more than 20 decarbonization projects in the chemicals industry across multiple countries,including Belgium,Finland,France,Germany,Italy,the Netherlands,Norway,Spain,an

6、d Sweden.Our findings show that players can reduce emissions by pursuing steam generation,utilizing residual heat,changing electricity procurement,and improving energy efficiency.We chose to focus our analysis and illustrative examples on the chemicals industry in Germany,given the magnitude and ava