BASF’s electric cracker demonstrator goes online

Steam cracking, the thermal process used by the chemical industry to transform hydrocarbons into useful smaller molecules such as ethylene and propylene, is very energy-intensive. Burning natural gas to provide this energy creates huge carbon emissions.

A demonstration plant for electric cracking is now running at BASF’s giant complex in Ludwigshafen, Germany, with the hope of proving its feasibility. If that electricity came from renewable sources rather than burning gas, the overall CO₂ emissions burden could be cut by as much as 90%, BASF said.