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Environmentally Friendly Solutions – Resource Conservation With BASF Products

Replacing natural products with synthetic products, as a form of resource conservation, has a long tradition at BASF. However, BASF also produces products that help to protect the climate and environment and has done so for quite a long time.

The Engine and Environment Say Thanks

With its fuel additives, BASF has been increasing the efficiency of engines since 1925, reducing fuel consumption and ensuring fewer emissions. By the 1960s, BASF already has a whole assortment of fuel additives. One of them is Kerobrisol, which reduces the smoke from diesel engines. The use of fuel additives as climate protection products gains momentum in the 1970s.

Gasoline and Rubber from Coal

Increasing motorization demands synthetic alternatives for rubber (for tires) and oil in the 1920s. At that time, for example, it is expected that global oil reserves will be sufficient for some more years only.

The so-called Leuna gasoline, a synthetic fuel obtained from coal, is launched onto the market in 1927. The corner stone for the first Buna plant is placed in 1936.

Washing Machine for Gases

BASF has been operating a process for gas purification at the ammonia plant since 1913 in order to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from a gas mixture. In 1935, the Alkazid process is added by which also hydrogen sulphides are removed. In 1971, an improved CO2 treatment process called aMDEA is launched.

Under the OASE brand, BASF provides gas treatment technologies since 2011. One of them helps capturing carbon from flue gas of coal-fired power plants and thus contributes to climate protection.

Something in the Air?

Worldwide, around one billion cars drive around on the roads and pollute the environment. Exhaust catalysts from BASF make the air cleaner today than 30 years ago despite an increase in car numbers.

The breakthrough in emission control is achieved by the U.S. based Engelhard Corporation in 1976 launching the first three-way catalyst for gasoline engines onto the market. After the acqusition of Engelhard in 2006, BASF researchers find the key to an even cleaner solution for gasoline engines, the four-way conversion catalyst (FWC).

Lightweight Automotive Construction

Since 1954, BASF has been selling a material hardly imaginable until then: resistant to acid, gasoline, grease, chemicals and water, but also light and stable – its name: Palatal. The car manufacturer Porsche is convinced of its material properties and launches the Porsche Carrera GTS in 1964. Its body consists of the glass-fiber-reinforced polyester resin palatal. This significantly reduces the weight of the sports car. The trend towards using plastics in automotive construction persists until today.

Insulating the Easy Way

Styropor has been produced by BASF since 1951. It proves to be an excellent insulating material. Today, it is a classic among the raw materials employed for cost-effective construction (and efficient and reliable packaging). Neopor, the innovative refinement of Styropor, is launched onto the market in 1998. The novel feature of this product is that it not only uses air, but also incorporated graphite particles reflecting heat radiation like a mirror for improved insulation performance.

Just think of synthetic dyes or synthetic ammonia for nitrogen fertilizers, or synthetic rubber and synthetic fuel – all innovations of BASF and all replacements for scarce natural products.

Resource conservation also takes the form of products that help to preserve the environment and climate. Kaurit is a very early example. Since 1931, the BASF glue has allowed for the more efficient use of the raw material wood, by making it possible to produce particle boards from wood chips. Styropor is another classic. As an insulating material, it has helped save energy since 1951.

These are the early beginnings of BASF’s development of a range of climate protection products, which today, for example, improve energy efficiency and the thermal management of buildings, reduce exhaust emissions from engines, and make detergents more environmentally friendly.

But not only BASF’s products contribute to the conservation of resources. The basic idea for founding the company already incorporates this approach. From the concentration of successive stages of production – from raw and auxiliary materials through preliminary and intermediate products to dyes – at only one location, a network of production facilities soon develops; they are interconnected through their flow of energy and products. This is the origin of BASF’s Verbund principle that remains influential today. It ensures the efficient use of resources.