Evonik relies 100 percent on renewable energy in Schörfling, Austria, and reduces CO₂

• First Evonik site with fully renewable energy mix
• 4,000 metric tons less of CO₂ emissions per year
• Sustainability as a growth driver

Schörfling, Austria. Evonik is relying entirely on renewable energies at its Austrian site in Schörfling am Attersee. Green electricity from wind, water, and biomass has already been flowing into the production facility for polymer-based fibers and membranes for years. Since the beginning of 2022, the specialty chemicals company has also been meeting 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 friendly, 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.

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.

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

Evonik has operated its production site in Schörfling am Attersee since 2010. The site’s 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 membrane’s base material - a high-performance plastic - is produced in neighboring Lenzing.