Our products contribute to the 17 United Nations SDGs

Sodium bicarbonate: an essential ingredient in the fight against acid rain

The applications of our products contribute to the following 17 United Nations SDGs.

SDG 15: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.

Sodium bicarbonate is used to treat flue gases from combustion plants (household waste incinerators, thermal power plants) to reduce acid rain.

Sodium bicarbonate reacts with the sulfur (SOx) and halogen (HX) compounds contained in the emitted smokes. This neutralization reaction reduces the emissions of these pollutants, which are transformed in the atmosphere mainly into sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) and fall back in the form of acid rain, which we know has a disastrous impact on forests, soils and surface waters and therefore biodiversity.  But it does not stop there. It also accelerates the degradation of building materials and thus strongly impacts our architectural heritage. And if that wasn’t enough, the presence of the irritating gas SO₂ in the atmosphere has a harmful effect on the health of sensitive people such as asthmatics, the elderly and children.

By producing and selling its sodium bicarbonate to the flue gas treatment market, our Seqens Mineral Specialties division is playing a major role in preserving the earth’s ecosystems by reducing emissions of sulfur and halogen compounds by more than 10,000 tons.