From NEI News
Published August 18, 2022
Dow Chemical, one of the largest chemical producers in the world, plans to drive down its carbon emissions through the deployment of X-energy’s small modular reactor (SMR) design. Dow is the first manufacturer to announce the intention to develop SMR technology options.
Transportation and industry comprise over half of emissions in the United States, which is double that of the electricity grid. The world won’t be able to achieve deep decarbonization without committing to innovative solutions for these sectors—which is exactly what Dow is doing.
It takes a lot of energy to create the raw materials that go into products ranging from microwaves to makeup to metal packaging, and this announcement builds on Dow’s ESG commitments and clean energy transition efforts.
The company is among the top 20 users of clean energy among global corporations. In its push to deliver a 30 percent reduction in scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 2030, Dow is looking to nuclear energy to help decarbonize its operations.
X-energy will collaborate with Dow on the intent to deploy a high-temperature gas reactor to provide not only the electricity that is critical to its operations, but also carbon-free, cost-competitive process heat to one of Dow’s U.S. Gulf Coast facilities.
“Advanced small modular nuclear technology is going to be a critical tool for Dow’s path to zero-carbon emissions and our ability to drive growth by delivering low-carbon products to our customers,” said Jim Fitterling, Dow chairman and chief executive officer. “This is a great opportunity for Dow to lead our industry in carbon neutral manufacturing by deploying next-generation nuclear energy.”
Dow also intends to invest in nuclear by taking a minority equity stake in X-energy and working with the company to deploy advanced technologies. This kind of investment is necessary to pave the way for the use of nuclear energy for applications beyond electricity.
In addition to high-temperature steam, nuclear energy can produce the hydrogen and ammonia needed to decarbonize other heavy industries. A recent study performed by engineering firm Sargent & Lundy found that opportunities for nuclear beyond the grid could dwarf the demand for grid generation with literally thousands of potential applications.
“Nuclear energy has always offered the promise of broad economy-wide decarbonization. Today’s announcement marks an important step in turning that aspiration into reality,” said Clay Sell, X-energy chief executive officer.