Avenues for Decarbonizing the Chemicals Industry: An Updated Tour of the SCS Carbon Assured™ Certification

Decarbonization within the chemical manufacturing sector remains one of the key challenges in moving toward net zero goals.  In an industry known for high levels of greenhouse gas emissions, many chemical manufacturers are embarking on a new era of eco-conscious production by transitioning to cleaner energy sources, utilizing alternative bio and recycled feedstocks, and implementing technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCUS).

SCS Standards and Assurance Systems’ Executive Director, Victoria Norman, and SCS Global Services’ Program Manager, Carbon Assurance, Julia Cockerham, discuss the newly updated standard, SCS-115: Certification Standard for Product Carbon Intensity and Reduction for Chemicals and Co-products, with a focus on the latest modules: Module D, Renewable Energy, and Module E, Asset Efficiency Improvement. The standard provides a methodology for third-party certification of the greenhouse gas intensity and reduction of chemicals, solvents, plastics, and similar products. During this presentation you will learn:

• The core standard’s framework and baseline calculation methodology used
• The five decarbonization levers supported by the standard, with a focus on renewable energy (module D) and asset efficiency improvement  (module E)
• Types of products and co-products that can benefit from certification
• Mass balance approach to carbon footprint reduction
• Product intensity and reduction claims that can be made to showcase product decarbonization
• The Carbon Assured™ program based on the SCS 115 standard