Carbon neutrality: Solvay leads the way
For a company, carbon neutrality involves implementing technological resources or compensation measures so as to not emit more greenhouse gases than it can absorb. Solvay, the Belgian global chemical giant, is investing two billion euros to meet this challenge.
The group wants to achieve carbon neutrality excluding soda ash by 2040 and complete neutrality for all its activities by 2050.
Solvay plans to invest 1 billion euros for each of these two stages. In the United States, in 2021, Solvay is already one of the country's top ten companies in terms of installed solar power capacity, with three production units switched to 100% renewable energy. To achieve this, the group installed a huge solar farm, about 500 football fields in size, in North Carolina. Solvay will also switch from coal to biomass at its soda ash production site at Dombasle-sur-Meurthe, France, by 2024 and at its Rheinberg site in Germany by 2025.
As regards soda ash emissions, which are the hardest to eliminate, Solvay will reduce emissions by 90%, and then 10% via carbon credit, mainly from reforestation-type projects. All this with very high sustainability standards.
Besides Solvay, the Belgian companies doing best in terms of sustainability include UCB, AB InBev and Colruyt