• Greenhouse gas emissions from petrochemical production could rise by around 50 per cent by 2050 under a business-as-usual scenario, new research from the University of Sheffield has found

• The study is the first to map global petrochemical emissions, revealing the levels of greenhouse gases emitted from more than 37,000 production facilities and process units worldwide.

• Findings show that 10 per cent of the industry’s production facilities are responsible for more than half of the industry’s emissions, with the manufacturing of ethylene and ammonia producing the most greenhouse gases

• By revealing emissions at facility, product, process and country level, the study shows not only how much the sector emits, but where those emissions are concentrated. This could help the industry and policymakers prioritise interventions, such as carbon capture and storage, or process changes, that could have the greatest impact

Carbon emissions from the petrochemical industry could increase by 50 per cent by 2050, according to new research from the University of Sheffield.

The study, published in Nature Sustainability, provides the most detailed data to date on emissions from one of the world’s biggest emitters of carbon dioxide.

Led by Dr Fanran Meng from the University’s School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering, the research is the first to map global petrochemical emissions, revealing the levels of greenhouse gases emitted from more than 37,000 production facilities and process units worldwide.

By revealing emissions at facility, product, process and country level, the study shows not only how much the sector emits, but where those emissions are concentrated. This could help the industry and policymakers prioritise interventions, such as efficiency, electrification, feedstock changes, carbon capture and storage, or process changes, that could have the greatest impact.

The study has revealed that carbon emissions from the industry are highly concentrated, with 53 per cent of emissions arising from just 10 per cent of the facilities studied.

Findings from the research show that ethylene and ammonia were the largest emitters among the major primary chemicals analysed. These chemicals are typically used to make plastics, food packaging, fertilisers and household cleaning products.

Drawing on the data, the researchers have developed an open access dashboard that industry, policymakers and researchers could use to easily see where carbon emissions are coming from to assist in designing interventions to make the industry more sustainable.

Dr Fanran Meng, Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Chemical Engineering at the University of Sheffield, said: “Emissions from the petrochemical industry are already enormous and yet our research has found that they are on course to rise by 50 per cent by 2050 under a business-as-usual scenario.

“Unfortunately given the complexities of the petrochemical industry and the crucial role it plays in underpinning many of the everyday products that modern society is built on, there is no silver bullet.

“Even an extremely optimistic scenario combining substantial electricity grid decarbonisation, complete deployment of eligible carbon capture and storage and sufficient bio-based feedstocks still does not take the sector to net zero by 2050. Reducing demand for petrochemical products must be part of the solution, alongside cleaner production, which the data from this study could assist with.”

The study, Emissions and System-level Decarbonisation Pathways for Global Petrochemical Production, was led by Dr Meng in collaboration with researchers from the University of Cambridge, University of Bath and University of California.