Full Title: Balancing Act: Can Petrochemicals Be Both Emissions Free and Zero-Waste?
Author(s): Oscar Serpell, Wan-Yi "Amy" Chu, Benjamin Paren
Publisher(s): Kleinman Center for Energy Policy
Publication Date: February 15, 2021
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
As the global energy transition toward low carbon resources continues, our dependence on oil, natural gas, and coal as sources of fuel will diminish substantially. However, demand for these fossil resources will not disappear entirely. On the contrary, the world is experiencing, and will continue to experience, a rapid increase in demand for oil and natural gas as feedstocks for petrochemical products. This is perhaps most clearly seen in the planet’s demand for, and production of, plastics—almost all of which are derived from fossil fuels.
The production of petrochemicals is not immediately recognizable as a continuing source of carbon emissions, because much of the carbon from the fossil fuel feedstocks is trapped within the petrochemical products. However, as we now know, once disposed of, these highly stable plastic products contribute to perhaps the second greatest environmental catastrophe following climate change: the global plastic waste crisis. The defacto solution for this waste crisis is incineration, which then releases the carbon from plastics—making them no less emissions intensive that fossil derived fuels.
There are many possible strategies to be adopted that could reduce plastic waste production without creating another potent source of carbon emissions. However, promoting any of these technological solutions will require careful carbon accounting and skillfully-implemented policy solutions. This report attempts to illustrate why putting the burden of embedded carbon on the petrochemical producers may be essential to support a sustainable petrochemical industry.