{"id":743,"date":"2021-11-01T12:46:23","date_gmt":"2021-11-01T12:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.industryinform.com\/?p=743"},"modified":"2021-11-01T12:46:24","modified_gmt":"2021-11-01T12:46:24","slug":"solutions-to-chemical-industrys-decarbonization-problem-far-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.industryinform.com\/?p=743","title":{"rendered":"Solutions to chemical industry’s decarbonization problem far off"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Depends on new, not-yet-mass scale tech<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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Climate scientists have repeatedly called for swift and bold action<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world\u2019s authoritative body on the subject, will release its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) in 2022. It will be the definitive scientific statement on climate change, though the IPCC\u2019s message has already been made quite clearly during the past years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), released in 2014, drove world leaders to sign the Paris Climate Accord in 2015, an international treaty that obliged their countries to limit global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, and preferably closer to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first of three working groups made their contribution to AR6 in August, which assessed the physical evidence for climate change. Almost 4,000 pages long, it was written by more than 200 scientists from 66 countries, based on more than 14,000 scientific papers, and agreed upon, line-by-line, by 195 governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond saying that human activities will <\/em>cause climate change, the report said they are <\/em>causing today\u2019s extreme climate and weather events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnless there are immediate, rapid, and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will be beyond reach,\u201d said the IPCC, ratcheting up the urgent call to action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres called it a \u201ccode red for humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chemical sector among \u2018hard to abate\u2019 industries<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with cement, iron, and steel, the chemical sector accounts for about 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Reducing emissions from these sectors in order to mitigate the effects of climate change is critical, but it is also notoriously difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chemicals sector is totally bound up in fossil fuels, and our world is totally bound up in the chemical sector.  \u201cDecarbonization is particularly challenging for the chemicals sector, which sits at the centre of the connections between the products that people use in everyday life and the raw materials used to manufacture them,\u201d says EY.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deloitte says, \u201cToday\u2019s chemical industry is built on hydrocarbons, which are used both as a feedstock and as a source of energy.\u201d The chemicals sector is responsible for 11 per cent of the global primary demand for oil and 8 per cent for gas, according to the IEA, which then become embedded in products like plastic or ammonia and ethanol. The IEA also says that demand will drive the sector to account for over a third of oil demand in 2030, and nearly half in 2050. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study from the National Academy of Sciences says chemical production will be the single<\/em> biggest driver of global oil consumption by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin Brudenmuller, chief technology officer and chairman of the board of BASF, the world\u2019s largest chemicals company, has put it more succinctly: \u201cOur products are made up of 50% carbon, so a carbon-free chemical industry is simply not possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Prescription: More energy efficiency, more renewable energy, and more innovation<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While turning the chemicals industry carbon-free might still be unconscionable to the industry itself, it does seem alive to the problem and to future potential. After all, pressure for decarbonization is coming from inside and outside companies, as well as from governments, regulators, and investors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deloitte points out that US chemical companies lag in disclosing net-zero climate goals \u201cdespite demonstrations across industry sectors that these targets boost profitability, improve investor confidence, drive innovation, reduce regulatory uncertainty and strengthen brand reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BASF, for its part then, is setting terms. \u201cAlthough the chemical industry cannot avoid carbon,\u201d Brudenmuller continued in that same article, \u201cit can use carbon more efficiently and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Similarly, an array of technologies will be needed to achieve a climate-neutral future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few scenarios that envision emissions dropping in the chemicals sector rely only on utilizing existing commercial technologies. Most include some combination of increased energy efficiency, increased use of renewable energy, and new, or young, technologies, such as hydrogen, bioenergy, geothermal, biomass, heat pumps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regularly, decarbonization scenarios depend on carbon capture utilization and\/or storage (CCUS; CCU; CCS), which involves collecting carbon dioxide at the point of emission and either recycling it into a different process or storing it, usually underground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A July, 2021, study from researchers at MIT, says that CCS alone could enable continued growth while eliminating nearly all the CO2 emissions generated into the atmosphere. \u201cCarbon capture can achieve 14 per cent of the global GHG reduction needed by 2050 and is viewed as the only practical way to achieve deep decarbonization,\u201d says the U.S.-based Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. A 2017 study for the European Commission came to a similar conclusion, except that emissions only decreased, while energy consumption continued to climb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transition toward the IEA\u2019s Clean Technology Scenario (CTS), which is a way toward net-zero emissions by 2050, is \u201cled by carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) coal to gas feedstock shifts, and energy effiency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, even the IEA recognizes that CCUS is not ready to play a major role in decarbonization. \u201cCCUS have been operating for decades in certain industries, but they are still a work in progress in the areas that need them most,\u201d says the IEA in its CCUS in Clean Energy Transitions Report. It implores governments and industry to ramp up CCUS deployment in the next decade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, as the science lays out the urgency of decreasing emissions immediately, it is a hard feat for industries such as chemicals. So long as fossil fuels comprise the core of their business, while CCUS remains a long-term (and not inevitable) solution, they will be hindered in their transition to decarbonization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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REFERENCES<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201c2021 Chemical Industry Outlook.\u201d Deloitte United States<\/em>, 26 Mar. 2021, https:\/\/www2.deloitte.com\/us\/en\/pages\/energy-and-resources\/articles\/chemical-industry-outlook.html.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The 2030 Decarbonization Challenge.” Deloitte United States<\/em>, 2020. https:\/\/www2.deloitte.com\/content\/dam\/Deloitte\/us\/Documents\/energy-resources\/us-eri-chemicals-decarbonization.pdf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe 21st-Century Cement Plant: Greener and More Connected.\u201d McKinsey & Company<\/em>, McKinsey & Company, 4 Nov. 2020, https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/chemicals\/our-insights\/the-21st-century-cement-plant-greener-and-more-connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accenture CEFIC Report – Accenture | Let There Be Change<\/em>. https:\/\/www.accenture.com\/us-en\/_acnmedia\/pdf-45\/accenture-cefic-report-exec-summary.pdf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAR6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis.\u201d IPCC<\/em>, 9 Aug. 2021, https:\/\/www.ipcc.ch\/report\/ar6\/wg1\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brudermuller, Martin. \u201cHow to Build a More Climate-Friendly Chemical Industry.\u201d World Economic Forum<\/em>, 21 Jan. 2020, https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/agenda\/2020\/01\/how-to-build-a-more-climate-friendly-chemical-industry\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCarbon Capture.\u201d Center for Climate and Energy Solutions<\/em>, 27 May 2021, https:\/\/www.c2es.org\/content\/carbon-capture\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCarbon Dioxide Capture and Storage.\u201d IPCC<\/em>, 2005, https:\/\/www.ipcc.ch\/site\/assets\/uploads\/2018\/03\/srccs_wholereport-1.pdf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dworztman, Mark. \u201cReducing Industrial Carbon Emissions.\u201d MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/em>, 21 July 2021, https:\/\/news.mit.edu\/2021\/reducing-emissions-decarbonizing-industry-0721.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnergy Consumption.\u201d Cefic.org<\/em>, 29 Mar. 2021, https:\/\/cefic.org\/a-pillar-of-the-european-economy\/facts-and-figures-of-the-european-chemical-industry\/energy-consumption\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnergy Is at the Heart of the Solution to the Climate Challenge.\u201d IPCC<\/em>, https:\/\/www.ipcc.ch\/2020\/07\/31\/energy-climatechallenge\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundertmark, Thomas, et al. \u201cHow Plastics Waste Recycling Could Transform the Chemical Industry.\u201d McKinsey & Company<\/em>, McKinsey & Company, 28 Oct. 2019, https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/chemicals\/our-insights\/how-plastics-waste-recycling-could-transform-the-chemical-industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iea. \u201cCCUS in Clean Energy Transitions \u2013 Analysis.\u201d IEA<\/em>, Sept. 2020, https:\/\/www.iea.org\/reports\/ccus-in-clean-energy-transitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iea. \u201cChemicals \u2013 Analysis.\u201d IEA<\/em>, 1 Nov. 2021, https:\/\/www.iea.org\/reports\/chemicals-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iea. \u201cFrom Energy to Chemicals \u2013 Analysis.\u201d IEA<\/em>, 1 Oct. 2018, https:\/\/www.iea.org\/commentaries\/from-energy-to-chemicals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iea. \u201cThe Future of Petrochemicals \u2013 Analysis.\u201d IEA<\/em>, https:\/\/www.iea.org\/reports\/the-future-of-petrochemicals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIPCC Circulates Final Draft of Working Group II Report to Governments for Comment.\u201d IPCC<\/em>, 1 Oct. 2021, https:\/\/www.ipcc.ch\/2021\/10\/01\/ipcc-wgii-ar6-final-draft\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirilyuk, Mikhail, et al. \u201cThe European Recycling Landscape–the Quiet before the Storm?\u201d McKinsey & Company<\/em>, McKinsey & Company, 13 Aug. 2020, https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/chemicals\/our-insights\/the-european-recycling-landscape-the-quiet-before-the-storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

K\u00e4telh\u00f6n, Arne, et al. \u201cClimate Change Mitigation Potential of Carbon Capture and Utilization in the Chemical Industry.\u201d PNAS<\/em>, National Academy of Sciences, 4 June 2019, https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/116\/23\/11187.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mazzotti, Marco, et al. \u201cThe Role of Carbon Capture and Utilization, Carbon Capture and Storage, and Biomass to Enable a Net-Zero-CO2 Emissions Chemical Industry.\u201d ACS Publications<\/em>, 4 Mar. 2020, https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/10.1021\/acs.iecr.9b06579.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moya Rivera, Jose Antonio, and Aikaterini Boulamanti. \u201cEnergy Efficiency and GHG Emissions: Prospective Scenarios for the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry.\u201d JRC Publications Repository<\/em>, https:\/\/publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu\/repository\/handle\/JRC105767.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNet Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Energy Sector.\u201d IEA<\/em>, May 2021, https:\/\/iea.blob.core.windows.net\/assets\/7ebafc81-74ed-412b-9c60-5cc32c8396e4\/NetZeroby2050-ARoadmapfortheGlobalEnergySector-SummaryforPolicyMakers_CORR.pdf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSecretary-General’s Statement on the IPCC Working Group 1 Report on the Physical Science Basis of the Sixth Assessment.\u201d United Nations<\/em>, United Nations, 9 Aug. 2021, https:\/\/www.un.org\/sg\/en\/content\/secretary-generals-statement-the-ipcc-working-group-1-report-the-physical-science-basis-of-the-sixth-assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe State of the Chemical Industry–It Is Getting More Complex.\u201d McKinsey & Company<\/em>, McKinsey & Company, 10 Nov. 2020, https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/chemicals\/our-insights\/the-state-of-the-chemical-industry-it-is-getting-more-complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weick, Mark, et al. \u201cUS Perspective \u2013 How Can Net Zero in Chemicals Be Profitable.\u201d EY<\/em>, EY, 24 May 2021, https:\/\/www.ey.com\/en_us\/chemicals\/how-can-net-zero-in-chemicals-be-profitable.<\/p>\n\n\n