Acrylonitrile: Emissions

Most of the footprint arrives with propylene and ammonia

What this tab covers The greenhouse-gas footprint per tonne, split by lifecycle phase (feedstock, production, movement, use, end of life), the global total, other environmental impacts, levers and low-carbon routes, India's position, and where the investment opportunity lies. Emission intensity 3.40 t CO2e per t range 2.2-4.5 · propylene about 1.5 t CO2e per t (propylene tile) x 1.1 t, ammonia about 2.4 t per t from gas x 0.48 t, plus off-gas incineration, less steam export credit Global emissions per year 24.0 Mt CO2e per year 2025 · 3.4 t x about 7 Mt

Per t of ACN, cradle-to-gate. Intensity: derived (indicative). Global total: derived (indicative).

Share of footprint by lifecycle phase

Feedstock 82% Production / process 13% Movement 5%

Footprint by lifecycle phase

Phase	Intensity	Share	Main sources of emissions	Notes	Source
Feedstock	about 2.8 t CO2e per t	82%	propylene cracking or PDH and ammonia from gas or coal	coal-based ammonia in China raises this	derived (indicative)
Production / process	about 0.45 t CO2e per t	13%	incineration of off-gas and waste streams; net of steam export	reaction heat makes steam that credits the plant	indicative
Movement	about 0.15 t CO2e per t	5%	chemical tankers		indicative
Use	not applicable	–	ACN is polymerised into ABS, fibre and acrylamide	acrylic fibre sheds microfibres in washing	indicative
End of life	about 2.5 t CO2 per t ACN-equivalent if burned (stoichiometric)	–	incineration of ABS and acrylic textiles	nitrogen in the polymer can form NOx and HCN on poor combustion; ABS recycling exists but is small	stoichiometry (indicative)

Other environmental impacts

Acute toxicity and carcinogenicity of ACN and HCN; microfibre shedding from acrylic textiles; acrylamide is a neurotoxin and residual monomer in polyacrylamide is regulated.

Levers to cut emissions

Low-carbon ammonia (electrolytic or with CCS)
Bio-attributed or bio-based propylene
Better catalysts (higher yield cuts feedstock per t)
Electrify or capture CO2 at the off-gas incinerator
Chemical recycling of ABS and carbon fibre

India

India carries no ACN production emissions; its imports embed Chinese and Korean feedstock footprints. Not published separately.

Emission figures are indicative global averages from the life-cycle studies named; actual footprints vary widely by site, energy mix and method.

Low-carbon routes

Route	Intensity	Cost premium	Status	Source
Mass-balance bio-attributed ACN	lower by the bio share (not published)	not published	offered by INEOS and Asahi Kasei under ISCC PLUS (indicative)	indicative
Glycerol- or sugar-based ACN	not published	not published	pilot scale (indicative)	indicative

For a climate investor ACN is in a deep cyclical trough with overcapacity, so new conventional plants are unattractive. The climate opportunity lies in low-carbon ammonia and bio-propylene feeding existing plants, and in carbon fibre and ABS recycling. In India, an ACN plant integrated with a refinery and green ammonia could replace imports, but only if a buyer such as a carbon fibre or ABS producer pays a premium.