Celanese achieves certification for low carbon methanol at Texas site
As part of its Fairway Methanol joint venture with Mitsui & Co, specialty materials firm Celanese Corporation has announced that the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) has certified its Low Carbon CCU (carbon capture and utilization) Methanol under the ISCC Carbon Footprint Certification (CFC) system. The newly certified Low Carbon CCU Methanol demonstrates a greater than 70% reduction in carbon footprint relative to a global average benchmark for fossil-based methanol production, as included in EU legislation.
Celanese began operating one of the largest active CCU facilities in the world at its Clear Lake, Texas, site in January 2024. The project is expected to capture 180,000 tonnes of CO2 industrial emissions and produce 130,000 tonnes of low-carbon methanol per year.
By leveraging CCU, Celanese now offers customers low-carbon options across its Acetyl Chain and Engineered Materials products under the ECO-CC name. CCU takes CO2 industrial emissions that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere and applies reduced-carbon-intensity hydrogen to chemically convert the captured CO2 into a methanol building block used for downstream production.
“We’re proud to be the first to receive ISCC CFC certification for CCU materials, which allows us to strengthen our ability to offer customers a wider range of lower-carbon footprint products,” said Kevin Norfleet, global sustainability director, Acetyls at Celanese. “This is another industry-leading step Celanese has taken to provide third-party validation of sustainable product benefits while helping our customers to meet the growing demand for more sustainable solutions.”
The ISCC CFC system establishes a structure and methodology to validate appropriate accounting for the CO2 capture benefits of the CCU process as well as tracking of sustainable feedstocks using the mass balance system.
Jan Henke, director ISCC and MEO Carbon Solutions, emphasized the importance of this collaborative effort: “We have observed an increasing interest, especially from the chemical industry, in certifying the carbon footprint of their products and making credible claims towards their customers. With our new carbon footprint certification, we provide the respective solution. For us, the integration of CCU and CCS into the new certification is only the start. Step-by-step, we will optimize the scheme together with our stakeholders and taking into account existing standards.”
