Integrated Assessment of the Leading Paths to Mitigate CO2 Emissions from the Organic Chemical and Plastics Industry

The chemical industry is a major and growing source of CO2 emissions. Here, we extend the principal U.S.-based integrated assessment model, GCAM, to include a representation of steam cracking, the dominant process in the organic chemical industry today, and a suite of emerging decarbonization strategies, including catalytic cracking, lower-carbon process heat, and feedstock switching. We find that emerging catalytic production technologies only have a small impact on midcentury emissions mitigation. In contrast, process heat generation could achieve strong mitigation, reducing associated CO2 emissions by ∼76% by 2050. Process heat generation is diversified to include carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen, and electrification. A sensitivity analysis reveals that our results for future net CO2 emissions are most sensitive to the amount of CCS deployed globally. The system as defined cannot reach net-zero emissions if the share of incineration increases as projected without coupling incineration with CCS. Less organic chemicals are produced in a net-zero CO2 future than those in a no-policy scenario. Mitigation of feedstock emissions relies heavily on biogenic carbon used as an alternative feedstock and waste treatment of plastics. The only scenario that delivers net-negative CO2 emissions from the organic chemical sector (by 2070) combines greater use of biogenic feedstocks with a continued reliance on landfilling of waste plastic, versus recycling or incineration, which has trade-offs.

Digital inclusive finance, government intervention, and urban green technology innovation

Digital inclusive finance eases credit constraints on innovative small and medium-sized enterprises which contributes to urban green technology innovation in China. Government intervention plays an essential role in the development of digital inclusive finance. Based on the panel data of 243 cities in China from 2011 to 2019, this paper empirically examines the relationship between digital inclusive finance and urban green technology innovation as well as the intrinsic mechanism of government intervention. The findings show that, even after a series of robustness tests, digital inclusive finance can promote the quantity and quality of green technology innovation. In terms of its mechanism, digital inclusive finance can empower green technology innovation by complementing traditional financial development and stimulating green consumption, both in terms of supply and demand. At the same time, in the dynamic process of digital financial inclusion from low to high, the development of traditional finance and green consumption level on the marginal promotion of green technology innovation continues to strengthen. The nonlinear relationship test reveals that there is a significant double threshold effect on the positive impact of digital inclusive finance on urban green technology innovation with the evolution of government intervention. The innovation incentive effect of digital financial inclusion will be marginal decreasing with the increase of government intervention. Further considering the heterogeneity of urban geographic location and environmental regulation, it is found that digital financial inclusion promotes green technology innovation more in eastern and high-environmental regulation cities. Based on the above research conclusions, this paper argues that while developing digital inclusion finance, government support policies should be adjusted promptly to constantly stimulate the "Metcalfe's law" effect of digital inclusive finance enabling green technology innovation.

Electrochemical Manufacturing Routes for Organic Chemical Commodities

Electrochemical synthesis of organic chemical commodities provides an alternative to conventional thermochemical manufacturing and enables the direct use of renewable electricity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the chemical industry. We discuss electrochemical synthesis approaches that use abundant carbon feedstocks for the production of the largest petrochemical precursors and basic organic chemical products: light olefins, olefin oxidation derivatives, aromatics, and methanol. First, we identify feasible routes for the electrochemical production of each commodity while considering the reaction thermodynamics, available feedstocks, and competing thermochemical processes. Next, we summarize successful catalysis and reaction engineering approaches to overcome technological challenges that prevent electrochemical routes from operating at high production rates, selectivity, stability, and energy conversion efficiency. Finally, we provide an outlook on the strategies that must be implemented to achieve large-scale electrochemical manufacturing of major organic chemical commodities.

A system dynamic model for Indonesian petrochemical industry emission reduction

Purpose

This paper aims to identify all variables and parameters related to business and emission within the petrochemical industry. The variables and parameters specified will be modeled into a system dynamic model that will be a baseline for the proposed best scenario(s) to address the business issue related to emission reduction in the petrochemical industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Literature review and stakeholder interviews were conducted to define the key factors contributing to the emission reduction of the petrochemical industry. The key factors are then developed into a system dynamic model to measure the quantitative impact of changes in those variables on emission and industry profitability.

Findings

This paper provides an analysis of system dynamic model. It suggests that process optimization can lead to a slight amount reduction in emissions. In contrast, a significant reduction shows in the simulation result of bio-based feedstock utilization and implementation of advanced technology. To sustain the emission reduction, strong commitment from stakeholders and support from the government will play an important role.

Research limitations/implications

This research is limited to problem analysis of the primary product (high-value chemical) of the petrochemical industry by only considering the changes in the key factors of emission reduction.

Practical implications

This paper includes implications for interventions that can be imposed to reduce emission while retaining the business profitability.

Originality/value

The contribution of this study is to find the best scenario that can boost emission reduction within Indonesia’s petrochemical industry.

Sustainable routes to alkenes: applications of homogeneous catalysis to the dehydration of alcohols to alkenes

Homogeneous catalysis applied to alcohol dehydration.

Light olefin synthesis from a diversity of renewable and fossil feedstocks: state-of the-art and outlook

Light olefins are important feedstocks and platform molecules for the chemical industry. Their synthesis has been a research priority in both academia and industry. There are many different approaches to the synthesis of these compounds, which differ by the choice of raw materials, catalysts and reaction conditions. The goals of this review are to highlight the most recent trends in light olefin synthesis and to perform a comparative analysis of different synthetic routes using several quantitative characteristics: selectivity, productivity, severity of operating conditions, stability, technological maturity and sustainability. Traditionally, on an industrial scale, the cracking of oil fractions has been used to produce light olefins. Methanol-to-olefins, alkane direct or oxidative dehydrogenation technologies have great potential in the short term and have already reached scientific and technological maturities. Major progress should be made in the field of methanol-mediated CO and CO₂ direct hydrogenation to light olefins. The electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to light olefins is a very attractive process in the long run due to the low reaction temperature and possible use of sustainable electricity. The application of modern concepts such as electricity-driven process intensification, looping, CO₂ management and nanoscale catalyst design should lead in the near future to more environmentally friendly, energy efficient and selective large-scale technologies for light olefin synthesis.

Environmental management of industrial decarbonization with focus on chemical sectors: A review

A considerable portion of fossil CO₂ emissions comes from the energy sector for production of heat and electricity. The industrial sector has the second order in emission in which the main parts are released from energy-intensive industries, namely metallurgy, building materials, chemicals, and manufacturing. The decarbonization of industrial wastes contemplates the classic decarbonization through optimization of conventional processes as well as utilization of renewable energy and resources. The upgrading of existing processes and integration of the methodologies with a focus on efficiency improvement and reduction of energy consumption and the environment is the main focus of this review. The implementation of renewable energy and feedstocks, green electrification, energy conversion methodologies, carbon capture, and utilization, and storage are also covered. The main objectives of this review are towards chemical industries by introducing the potential technology enhancement at different subsectors. For this purpose, state-of-the-art roadmaps and pathways from the literature findings are presented. Both common and innovative renewable attempts are needed to reach out both short- and long-term deep decarbonization targets. Even though all of the innovative solutions are not economically viable at the industrial scale, they play a crucial role during and after the energy transition interval.

Reuse of CO2 in energy intensive process industries

Closing the carbon cycle and enabling a carbon circular economy in energy intensive industries (iron and steel, cement, refineries, petrochemistry and fertilizers) are topics of increasing interest to meet the demanding target of defossilizing the production. The focus of this perspective contribution is on CO₂ reuse technologies in this context. While this is a topic with abundant literature, the analysis of applying CO₂ reuse technologies evidences the need to go beyond those receiving most of the attention today, such as conversion of CO₂ to methanol. Depending on the specific context, different scenarios are expected. Some examples illustrating the search for novel solutions are provided, such as those starting from the efficient conversion of CO₂ to CO. Once CO is produced from CO₂ many bio-chemical and catalytic conversion routes open up next to direct uses of CO in the steel and chemical sector.

Photoautotrophic production of renewable ethylene by engineered cyanobacteria: Steering the cell metabolism towards biotechnological use

Ethylene is a volatile hydrocarbon with a massive global market in the plastic industry. The ethylene now used for commercial applications is produced exclusively from nonrenewable petroleum sources, while competitive biotechnological production systems do not yet exist. This review focuses on the currently developed photoautotrophic bioproduction strategies that enable direct solar-driven conversion of CO₂ into ethylene, based on the use of genetically engineered photosynthetic cyanobacteria expressing heterologous ethylene forming enzyme (EFE) from Pseudomonas syringae. The emphasis is on the different engineering strategies to express EFE and to direct the cellular carbon flux towards the primary metabolite 2-oxoglutarate, highlighting associated metabolic constraints, and technical considerations on cultivation strategies and conditional parameters. While the research field has progressed towards more robust strains with better production profiles, and deeper understanding of the associated metabolic limitations, it is clear that there is room for significant improvement to reach industrial relevance. At the same time, existing information and the development of synthetic biology tools for engineering cyanobacteria open new possibilities for improving the prospects for the sustainable production of renewable ethylene.

Improving the Bio-Oil Quality via Effective Pyrolysis/Deoxygenation of Palm Kernel Cake over a Metal (Cu, Ni, or Fe)-Doped Carbon Catalyst

Waste palm kernel cake (WPKC) is being utilized as a biomass feedstock for the sustainable production of catalysts/supports and bio-oil fuels. Herein, metal (Cu, Ni, and/or Fe)-doped carbon catalysts were prepared using conventional impregnation and pyrolysis methods. The physicochemical properties of the as-prepared catalysts were analyzed. According to the obtained results, the catalyst acidity was highly increased with the increase in the metal loading amount on a carbon support, leading to a better performance for deoxygenation/aromatization. A maximum yield of bio-oil from WPKC pyrolysis was achieved up to ∼60% under optimum conditions determined via statistical designs. From the results of bio-oil compositions, 15%Ni loading on activated carbon exhibited the best performance of about 72% for the production of hydrocarbon compounds. Monoaromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, and xylenes (BTXs) could be reduced via condensation and polymerization with the increase of the Ni-loading amount. Moreover, the catalytic performance of the selected 15%Ni-carbon catalyst was also compared with those of commercial catalysts zeolite and alumina, and the results showed that the 15% metal-doped carbon catalyst presented much better stability/reusability for five times with less reduction of the hydrocarbon yield in the upgraded bio-oil. This research provided an eco-friendly strategy for the low-cost production of bio-oil fuel with a high quality/yield from waste biomass pyrolysis.

Capture and Reuse of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) for a Plastics Circular Economy: A Review

Plastic production has been increasing at enormous rates. Particularly, the socioenvironmental problems resulting from the linear economy model have been widely discussed, especially regarding plastic pieces intended for single use and disposed improperly in the environment. Nonetheless, greenhouse gas emissions caused by inappropriate disposal or recycling and by the many production stages have not been discussed thoroughly. Regarding the manufacturing processes, carbon dioxide is produced mainly through heating of process streams and intrinsic chemical transformations, explaining why first-generation petrochemical industries are among the top five most greenhouse gas (GHG)-polluting businesses. Consequently, the plastics market must pursue full integration with the circular economy approach, promoting the simultaneous recycling of plastic wastes and sequestration and reuse of CO2 through carbon capture and utilization (CCU) strategies, which can be employed for the manufacture of olefins (among other process streams) and reduction of fossil-fuel demands and environmental impacts. Considering the previous remarks, the present manuscript’s purpose is to provide a review regarding CO2 emissions, capture, and utilization in the plastics industry. A detailed bibliometric review of both the scientific and the patent literature available is presented, including the description of key players and critical discussions and suggestions about the main technologies. As shown throughout the text, the number of documents has grown steadily, illustrating the increasing importance of CCU strategies in the field of plastics manufacture.

The technical and economic comparison of ethylene production from natural gas and ethane

Ethylene is one of the most primary and widely used petrochemical products in today’s world and is considered as a chemical building block in the petrochemical industry. In this research, ethylene production from ethane and natural gas is evaluated in terms of cost and optimum conditions. Also, a comprehensive economic and technical comparison is made to achieve the optimal conditions for ethylene production concerning feed diversity. Nowadays most ethylene production units run with ethane feed. If it is possible to implement gas-ethylene processes with an inexpensive natural gas feed, it will be a significant step for technical and economic optimization. Thus, some methods are introduced and compared, and finally an economic review about best condition for ethylene production from ethane and natural gas/investment with regard to cost and economic efficiency of the methods is provided. The investment cost for Gas to Ethylene (GTE) and Ethane to Ethylene (ETE) processes is 363–701 million dollars per year, respectively. Also, rate of return (ROR) of 24 and 19% is calculated for GTE and ETE processes, respectively.

A Review on Production of Light Olefins via Fluid Catalytic Cracking

The fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) process is an alternative olefin production technology, with lower CO2 emission and higher energy-saving. This process is used for olefin production by almost 60% of the global feedstocks. Different parameters including the operating conditions, feedstock properties, and type of catalyst can strongly affect the catalytic activity and product distribution. FCC catalysts contain zeolite as an active component, and a matrix, a binder, and a filler to provide the physical strength of the catalyst. Along with the catalyst properties, the FCC unit’s performance also depends on the operating conditions, including the feed composition, hydrocarbon partial pressure, temperature, residence time, and the catalyst-to-oil ratio (CTO). This paper provides a summary of the light olefins production via the FCC process and reviews the influences of the catalyst composition and operating conditions on the yield of light olefins.