US-based chemical company, DuPont, has announced that its $220 million expansion in south central Ohio is set for completion in the second half of this year.

What are they making more of?

The site is being expanded to produce more polyimide films and laminates for applications in the "automotive, consumer electronics, telecom, high-performing industrial, and defense market segments". Polyimides are used for things like flexible cables (like the cable connecting your laptop's logic board to the display) and those laminates serve as one of the many layers of printed circuit boards.

Bigger picture:

Companies like DuPont aren't the first to come to mind when we hear about new electronics and technologies—but chemical companies play a critical role in this arena. The materials DuPont is producing are necessary for "innovations in areas such as 5G, automotive, flexible displays, and artificial intelligence". The plant expansion is happening because those technologies are expected to see quite a bit of growth in the coming decade.

Read the press release here.

German chemical giant, BASF, has announced that its Texas sites in Freeport and Pasadena will be powered by 90% and 70% renewable energy respectively.

The details:

BASF signed an agreement with EDF to supply its site in Freeport with 25 MW of wind power (from west Texas) and 55 MW of solar power (from southeast of Houston). Its site in Pasadena is getting 10 MW of wind power from that same wind farm in west Texas.

Zooming out:

The renewable power supplied to these sites is done through power purchase agreements (PPA) that lock BASF into paying for the power produced at large wind and solar farms. These agreements ensure that the large farms are worth building because at least large chemical companies are willing to pay for whatever renewable energy is produced.

Read the press release here.

Dutch energy giant, Shell, has announced its new net-zero emissions strategy.

Summing it up:

• Reduce oil production by 1-2% each year going forward
• Reduce production of traditional fuels (gasoline, diesel, etc.) by 55% by 2030
• Increase cash generation from chemicals by $1-2 billion a year by 2030
• Reduce emissions intensity 6-8% by 2023, 20% by 2030, 45% by 2035, and 100% by 2050

How they will do it:

The oil production reduction will be achieved through "divestments and natural decline", and the reduction in traditional fuels production will occur as Shell shifts its production to chemicals. The company reminded us that it will reduce its refinery footprint to just 6 highly integrated sites (it's down to 13 after shutting one down last year). You can expect more investment in chemical production from recycled waste too because Shell is aiming "to annually process 1 million tonnes a year of plastic waste" by 2025.

Read the press release here and a detailed analysis here.