A Climate neutral player

Due to European Competition and Compliance rules, we are not allowed to publish numbers for individual companies. To measure the progress our sector makes, we collect the greenhouse gas emissions related to energy use. These numbers are aggregated and published as a Euro Chlor figure.

That is certainly the aim. The European chlor-alkali sector will contribute to the ‘Green Deal’. Due to the nature of our production, we are dependent on external electricity supplies that are ‘green’ and abundantly available at a competitive price. This means we will actively contribute, but also depend on others to achieve our goal (especially as more and more sectors will electrify).

In the past decade there has been a significant drop in the energy consumption per ton of chlorine produced; mostly thanks to the development of new technologies. These technologies are now approaching their thermodynamic limits, meaning that further improvement becomes difficult. Nevertheless, innovation efforts continue, with the aim of reaching the limits. These innovations require investments that are only possible if they take place within a sufficiently economically favourable and sustainable framework.

It should also be noted that chlorine production units often form part of a larger integrated site. Here, industry is also continuously looking for further optimisation and reduction of energy consumption. A typical example is the heat recovery process that occurs in many integrated sites.

Yes, to some extent.

Currently, some of our members provide different balancing services to the Transmission System Operators across Europe.

This can only be done for short periods, as longer periods would lead to large chlorine storage requirements to ensure continuous supply to the downstream value chain. For safety (and local regulatory) reasons, storage of large volumes of chlorine is typically not desired/ allowed. Nevertheless, these short-period balancing efforts are already proving to be highly valuable. Euro Chlor will investigate how to improve this service further.

Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier that can be produced from a wide range of sources. This includes hydrogen generated during chlor-alkali production. This hydrogen can be used in many ways across the entire energy sector.

Hydrogen has long been used by the chemical industry as a feedstock in industrial processes and is seen today as a major contributor to a fully decarbonised energy system. Hydrogen can potentially contribute to the decarbonisation of various sectors. This includes as storage in the power sector, as an energy carrier option for heating, transport and industry, and finally as a feedstock for industries such as steel, chemicals and e-fuels.

Hydrogen is seen as a potential ‘game-changer’ when produced from renewable energy sources, but its widespread adoption faces technical, economic and regulatory challenges.

Hydrogen is a co-product of many chlor-alkali production units across Europe and therefore our industry can play a role. We are exploring opportunities to use any hydrogen produced by us in our communities, in transportation and in the generation of energy. 

In addition, the chlor-alkali industry has many years of experience with electrolysis processes. As such, we may be of assistance in solving technical and safety issues experienced by the water electrolysis process.