By Wei Kun

On September 28, China National Petroleum & Chemical Planning Institute (NPCPI) held an online seminar, through which experts discussed how to accelerate low-carbon transition of China’s petrochemical industry, not only a pillar of the nation's economy but also a major contributor to both energy consumption and carbon emissions.

Domestic energy firms currently in a key stage to conduct low-carbon transition

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), China’s energy mix was optimized and a big progress was made in low-carbon transition. More specifically, non-fossil fuels accounted for 15.9% of energy consumption, while proportion of coal consumption fell to 56.8%. Further, hydro, wind, solar energy and nuclear generating capacities reached 340 million kW, 280 million kW, 250 million kW and 50 million kW, respectively – making China rank top in the aspect of non-fossil fuel generating capacity.

China’s capability to ensure energy supply has been strengthening. Domestic output of crude oil rebounded stably, and that of natural gas rose more than 10 billion cubic meters annually, both in the last five-year plan period. Oil and gas pipelines totaled 175 000 kilometers, generating capacity reached 2.2 billion kW and West-to-East power transmission ability was 270 million kW, all in the same period. However, risks will always exist. To guarantee energy security in the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), energy companies shall improve comprehensive strength, make full use of advantages, correct deficiencies, etc.

Insufficient oil and gas resources and dependence on imports will influence China’s energy security in a long term. Hence inevitable energy transition. Renewable energy sources will gradually replace fossil fuels to become a leading role in China’s energy mix.

Key sectors in urgent need to reduce carbon emissions

Energy consumption and carbon emissions of the petrochemical industry will both increase before 2030 (see Table 1 for more details). To realize low-carbon development, petroleum and chemical industry should take measures like: 1) choosing low-carbon raw materials; 2) striving for low even zero carbon emissions of production process; 3) developing green products superior in quality, weather resistance, service life, use efficiency, etc., said NPCPI vice president Li Zhijian, who argued that low-carbon chemical materials may help related industries reduce carbon emissions by over 1.4 billion tons by 2025. Table 2 shows ways to enable raw materials to be low-carbon.

Source: NPCPI

Raw materials impact carbon emissions significantly, said Gong Huajun, deputy director of Petrochemical Department, NPCPI. For refining firms, green hydrogen is the first choice to realize low-carbon development, and olefin companies are wise to adopt lightweight materials. Ethylene enterprises could employ naphtha as main raw materials, and utilize butane as auxiliary raw materials. Raw materials with low carbon and rich in hydrogen will help coal chemical firms improve carbon use efficiency.

In spite of great effect in reducing carbon emissions, low-carbon raw materials currently trouble petrochemical and chemical enterprises in two aspects – output and price. Therefore, coal and low-carbon raw materials will coexist. Related companies should actively develop low-carbon raw materials, e.g. constructing low or zero-carbon raw material bases, researching new technologies on biological based materials, chemical recycling of plastics, etc.

Low-carbon technologies and materials

Domestic petrochemical and chemical enterprises will prioritize R&D of low-carbon technologies on process optimization, energy-efficient equipment, system optimization, CCUS, etc., said Zhu Binbin, director of Low-carbon Technology Development Center.

Lightweight materials will get more attention as they will help downstream products reduce resource and energy consumption. With development of the society, chemical materials shall meet higher requirements (related to variety, quality, environmental protection, etc.), said Qiao Bing from Material Chemical Department.To make breakthroughs in materials without competitiveness, chemical enterprises should increase R&D investment, strengthen cooperation, etc. For materials with scale advantage, they should upgrade key technologies to avoid homogeneous competition, strengthen security of industrial and supply chains, research new technologies, etc.

China’s petrochemical and chemical enterprises will achieve low-carbon, high-quality development by means of new breakthroughs in raw materials, production process, products, etc.