Smart Materials

Evonik relies on renewable energies in Schörfling and saves CO2

Evonik is relying entirely on renewable energies at its Austrian site in Schörfling am Attersee. Since the beginning of the year, the specialty chemicals company has been covering its gas requirements there entirely with biomethane from regional production, thus reducing its direct CO2 emissions in Upper Austria.

Evonik relies entirely on renewable energies at its Austrian site in Schörfling am Attersee. Green electricity from wind, water, or biomass has already been flowing into the production facility for polymer-based fibers and membranes for years. Since the beginning of the year 2022, the specialty chemicals company has also been covering 100 percent of its gas requirements with biomethane from regional production. By switching to an environmentally friendly energy supply, Evonik is reducing its direct CO2 emissions in Upper Austria by around 4,000 metric tons a year.  

"Schörfling is the first Evonik site in the world to rely entirely on renewable energies. We attach great importance to manufacturing our products in an environmentally compatible, safe, and efficient manner," says Jean-Marc Chassagne, site manager and managing director of Evonik Fibres GmbH. "Sustainability is an integral part of our business strategy - as an important growth driver and cornerstone of our product portfolio, our investments, and our innovation management. We always communicate this idea to our customers by offering them advanced technologies that bring environmental benefits in their applications."

As recently as 2020, Evonik balanced its annual gas requirements for space and process heating in Schörfling with 25 percent biomethane. "We have not only kept the climate promise we made two years ago to reduce direct emissions, we have even exceeded it through further production optimization. A new processing plant, for example, enables us to recover most of an important raw material used in the production of our gas separation membranes, thus further reducing our CO2 emissions," says Chassagne.

Innovative technologies for more environmental protection

With products and technology solutions from Schörfling, Evonik has been ensuring cleaner air and fewer emissions for many years. High-temperature-resistant P84® fibers are regarded worldwide as the highest quality standard in filter media for hot gas filtration, which efficiently purify acidic flue gases in cement plants, power plants, and waste incineration plants, for example.

SEPURAN® Green - another showcase product from Upper Austria - stands for highly efficient hollow fiber membranes that process biogas into high-purity biomethane in over 700 reference plants worldwide. The climate-friendly energy source can be used to generate electricity and heat or as an alternative fuel (bio-CNG/bio-LNG).

Evonik has had its production site in Schörfling am Attersee since 2010. More than 180 employees develop and produce polyimide-based fibers and hollow fiber membranes for efficient filtration and separation technologies for flue gas purification or gas separation. The starting material - the high-performance plastic - is produced in neighboring Lenzing.