We can expect more emissions from oil refineries in the near-term
future, analysis finds

Date:
August 20, 2021
Source:
Cell Press
Summary:
A global inventory has revealed that CO2 emissions from oil
refineries were 1.3 Gigatons (Gt) in 2018 and could be as large as
16.5 Gt from 2020 to 2030. Based on the results, the researchers
recommend distinct mitigation strategies for refineries in different
regions and age groups.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A global inventory has revealed that CO2 emissions from oil refineries
were 1.3 Gigatonnes (Gt) in 2018 and could be as large as 16.5 Gt from
2020 to 2030.

Based on the results, the researchers recommend distinct mitigation
strategies for refineries in different regions and age groups. The
findings appear August 20 in the journal One Earth.


========================================================================== "This study provides a detailed picture of oil refining
capacity and CO2 emissions worldwide," says Dabo Guan of Tsinghua
University. "Understanding the past and future development trends of the
oil refining industry is crucial for guiding regional and global emissions reduction." Climate change is one of the most fundamental challenges
facing humanity today, and continuous expansion of fossil-fuel-based
energy infrastructure may be one of the key obstacles in achieving the
Paris Agreement goals. The oil refining industry plays a crucial role
in both the energy supply chain and climate change. The petroleum oil
refining industry is the third-largest stationary emitter of greenhouse
gases in the world, contributing 6% of all industrial greenhouse gas
emissions. In particular, CO2 accounts for approximately 98% of greenhouse gases emitted by petroleum refineries.

In the new study, Guan and his collaborators developed a publicly
available global inventory of CO2 emissions from 1,056 oil refineries
from 2000 to 2018.

CO2 emissions of the refinery industry were about 1.3 Gt in 2018. If all existing and proposed refineries operate as usual, without the adoption
of any low-carbon measures, they could emit up to 16.5Gt of CO2 from
2020 to 2030.

Based on the findings, the authors recommend mitigation strategies,
such as improving refinery efficiency and upgrading heavy oil-processing technologies, which could potentially reduce global cumulative emissions
by 10% from 2020 to 2030. The inventory will be updated and improved in
the future as more and better data become available.

The study also showed that the average output of global oil refineries gradually increased from 2000 to 2018, in terms of barrels per
day. But the results varied by refinery age group. Specifically, the
average capacity of young refineries, which are mainly distributed in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, increased significantly from 2000
to 2018, while the average capacity of refineries older than 19 years
remained stable. "Given the greater committed emissions brought about
by the long remaining operating time of young refineries, there is an
urgent need for these refineries to adopt low-carbon technologies to
reduce their CO2 emissions," Guan says. "As for middle-aged and old
refineries, improving operational efficiency, eliminating the backward capacity, and speeding up the upgrading of refining configuration are
the key means to balance growing demand and reducing CO2 emissions."
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of
China and the UK Natural Environment Research Council.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Cell_Press. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Tianyang Lei, Dabo Guan, Yuli Shan, Bo Zheng, Xi Liang, Jing
Meng, Qiang
Zhang, Shu Tao. Adaptive CO2 emissions mitigation strategies of
global oil refineries in all age groups. One Earth, 2021; 4 (8):
1114 DOI: 10.1016/j.oneear.2021.07.009 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210820111125.htm

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