Experts point out the maze for carbon reduction in the industry

At the 2021 China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Top 500 Press Conference held last week, the Opportunities and Challenges of Petroleum and Chemical Large Enterprises under the New Dual Circulation Forum, Bai Yi, former vice president of the Petroleum and Chemical Planning Institute, discussed the industry carbon peak Giving five specific suggestions, Jie Yifan, Global Deputy Director of McKinsey, analyzed ten investment opportunities for coal chemical companies in the green and low-carbon field
.

Bai Yi said that in accordance with the requirements of the "dual carbon" strategy, major progress will be made in industrial restructuring by 2030, the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption will reach about 25%, and the CO₂ emissions per unit of GDP will drop by more than 65% compared with 2005
.
The current status of carbon emissions in the domestic petrochemical and chemical industries is: in 2020, the industry's CO₂ emissions will be about 1.
54 billion tons (about 1.
41 billion tons after deducting coking), accounting for about 15% of the national CO₂ emissions; of which the total carbon emissions from basic chemicals About 880 million tons, accounting for about 55% to 60% of the total industry emissions
.
"Comparing to the 'dual carbon' target, the domestic petrochemical and chemical industries have an arduous task of reducing carbon emissions, and the time is also very urgent
.
" Bai Yi said
.

"To achieve the 'double carbon' goal, the petrochemical and chemical industries should strengthen the concept of carbon reduction development, implement carbon reduction and carbon sequestration measures, avoid disorderly expansion of plant scale, and accelerate the formation of carbon reduction from the source, process carbon reduction, and carbon capture in the industry.
The whole industry chain carbon reduction model integrating storage and comprehensive utilization
.
At the same time, enterprises should be guided to implement energy-saving and low-carbon transformation and upgrading; strengthen energy management and cascade utilization to improve energy utilization efficiency; and implement raw material and fuel substitution to increase the proportion of renewable energy use , in order to speed up the realization of the carbon peak
.
" Bai Yi emphasized
.

Bai Yi also gave specific suggestions for the petrochemical and chemical industries to achieve carbon peaks
.

First, we must realize the upgrading of industrial structure, including technological upgrading, high production efficiency, energy saving and emission reduction, and elimination of backwardness; second, we must enhance the raw material properties of fossil resources, and at the same time increase the proportion of low-carbon raw materials, and the utilization methods must also be low-carbon
.
It is necessary to control the increase of high-carbon resources and increase the application ratio of low-carbon resources, such as the combined use of coal and natural gas, the production of high-value chemical products with natural gas, and the use of imported distillates and low-carbon hydrocarbons as raw materials for deep processing
.
The third is to promote the carbon reduction and utilization of "green hydrogen" and "green ammonia" raw materials at the source, as well as the fuel substitution of "green oxygen"
.
Fourth, optimize the product structure and improve the comprehensive utilization level of carbon sequestration, such as strengthening the comprehensive utilization of CO₂, reducing (controlling) oil and increasing chemical production, and coal-based solid chemicals
.
Fifth, it is necessary to transform the heating system and increase the proportion of natural gas and clean electricity, such as replacing coal with gas, replacing steam drive with electric drive,
etc.

When talking about the decarbonization path of the coal chemical industry, McKinsey Global Associate Director and Partner Jie Yifan said that from the perspective of the overall industrial economy, there are ten investment opportunities for coal chemical companies in the green and low-carbon field: First, energy decarbonization , that is to use renewable energy to achieve energy substitution; the second is low-carbon travel, that is, to empower downstream new energy vehicles, including body materials, battery materials and future hydrogen energy storage; the third is to cycle renewable products and packaging, For example, plastic production and recycling; fourth, low-carbon agriculture and food supply, synthetic ammonia enterprises can effectively help downstream agricultural users to increase production and reduce fertilizer use; fifth, produce sustainable building materials; sixth, develop hydrogen energy; seventh, develop bioenergy The eighth is to achieve decarbonization of industrial processes; the ninth is carbon capture, utilization and storage; and the tenth is to participate in the carbon market
.

Jie Yifan believes that these fields are inseparable from the development of coal chemical industry, and there are also related layout opportunities
.