In Focus: Sustainable Solutions BASF Report 2021 Management’s Report – In Focus: Sustainable Solutions 143 In focus: BASF Solutions for a Sustainable Future Solutions based on chemistry are fundamental to a sustainable future. Every day, around 111,000 employees at BASF work to turn good ideas into innovative products that help solve global challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity or food supply. Enabling climate-smart mobility expects to save around 3,700 metric tons of kerosene and reduce CO by around 11,700 metric tons every year. 2 The transportation sector is one of the largest sources of green- house gases. In Europe, for example, around one-quarter of all CO emissions are caused by road traffic. BASF helps to reduce Making better use of sun and wind 2 exhaust emissions and vehicle fuel consumption with innovative solutions to treat exhaust gases such as zeolite SCR catalysts BASF products enable renewable energies to be used more effi- or tri-metal catalyst technology (see page 82), Keropur® fuel addi- ciently. One example is solar salt. This mixture of sodium nitrate and ® tives or light weight high-performance plastics such as Ultramid , potassium nitrate is used in concentrated solar power (CSP) plants ® ® Ultradur or Elastoflex . (image left). As a heat transfer fluid at high temperatures of over 550 degrees Celsius, molten solar salt allows solar energy to be At the same time, as a leading supplier of battery materials for stored and thus used even in bad weather or at night. lithium-ion batteries, we are paving the way for the age of electro- ® mobility. Here, too, the focus is on sustainability – from the respon- Other examples are the amine-based hardeners Baxxodur EC 301 sible procurement of mineral raw materials and the most economical and EC 201. Both have proven effective in processing epoxy resins use in production to recycling at the end of the life cycle. In the future, for the manufacture of rotor blades for modern wind turbines. the carbon footprint of our European production will be significantly Baxxodur® hardeners contribute significantly to the advantageous below the industry standard thanks to our efficient manufacturing properties of the cured epoxy resin, such as low weight, high processes, the high share of renewable energy, and regional pro- mechanical strength, and high chemical and thermal resistance – all curement and recycling of key raw materials. of which are key to the longevity of rotor blades. In aviation, the Novaflex Sharkskin surface film developed jointly with Lufthansa Technik leads to noticeable CO reductions. Its structure 2 Although one of BASF’s oldest products, sodium nitrate is also used is modeled on sharkskin and optimizes aerodynamics at the flow- for innovative applications: Its excellent heat storage properties related parts of the aircraft. The sharkskin technology will be used makes the technical salt ideal for solar thermal plants. BASF supplies it to one of the largest solar projects in the world – Noor Energy 1 in on Lufthansa Cargo’s entire freighter fleet from 2022. Through its Dubai. use on the 10 Boeing 777F freighters alone, Lufthansa Technik