IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v227y2018icp587-602.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Industrial energy use and carbon emissions reduction in the chemicals sector: A UK perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Griffin, Paul W.
  • Hammond, Geoffrey P.
  • Norman, Jonathan B.

Abstract

The opportunities and challenges to reducing industrial energy demand and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the Chemicals sector are evaluated with a focus on the situation in the United Kingdom (UK), although the lessons learned are applicable across much of the industrialised world. This sector can be characterised as being heterogeneous; embracing a diverse range of products (including advanced materials, cleaning fluids, composites, dyes, paints, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and surfactants). It sits on the boundary between energy-intensive (EI) and non-energy-intensive (NEI) industrial sectors. The improvement potential of various technological interventions has been identified in terms of their energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Currently-available best practice technologies (BPTs) will lead to further, short-term energy and CO2 emissions savings in chemicals processing, but the prospects for the commercial exploitation of innovative technologies by mid-21st century are far more speculative. A set of industrial decarbonisation ‘technology roadmaps’ out to the mid-21st Century are also reported, based on various alternative scenarios. These yield low-carbon transition pathways that represent future projections which match short-term and long-term (2050) targets with specific technological solutions to help meet the key energy saving and decarbonisation goals. The roadmaps’ contents were built up on the basis of the improvement potentials associated with various processes employed in the chemicals industry. They help identify the steps needed to be undertaken by developers, policy makers and other stakeholders in order to ensure the decarbonisation of the UK chemicals industry. The attainment of significant falls in carbon emissions over this period will depends critically on the adoption of a small number of key technologies [e.g., carbon capture and storage (CCS), energy efficiency techniques, and bioenergy], alongside a decarbonisation of the electricity supply.

Suggested Citation

  • Griffin, Paul W. & Hammond, Geoffrey P. & Norman, Jonathan B., 2018. "Industrial energy use and carbon emissions reduction in the chemicals sector: A UK perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C), pages 587-602.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:227:y:2018:i:c:p:587-602
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.08.010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261917310255
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.08.010?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hammond, G.P. & Akwe, S.S. Ondo & Williams, S., 2011. "Techno-economic appraisal of fossil-fuelled power generation systems with carbon dioxide capture and storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 975-984.
    2. Paul W. Griffin & Geoffrey P. Hammond & Jonathan B. Norman, 2016. "Industrial energy use and carbon emissions reduction: a UK perspective," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(6), pages 684-714, November.
    3. Hammond, Geoffrey P. & O’Grady, Áine, 2017. "Indicative energy technology assessment of UK shale gas extraction," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 1907-1918.
    4. P. Hammond, Geoffrey & O' Grady, Áine, 2017. "The life cycle greenhouse gas implications of a UK gas supply transformation on a future low carbon electricity sector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 937-949.
    5. Hammond, G.P. & Norman, J.B., 2012. "Decomposition analysis of energy-related carbon emissions from UK manufacturing," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 220-227.
    6. Dyer, Caroline H. & Hammond, Geoffrey P. & Jones, Craig I. & McKenna, Russell C., 2008. "Enabling technologies for industrial energy demand management," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4434-4443, December.
    7. Robert U. Ayres & Leslie W. Ayres, 1997. "The Life Cycle of Chlorine, Part II: Conversion Processes and Use in the European Chemical Industry," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 1(2), pages 65-89, April.
    8. Ren, Tao & Patel, Martin & Blok, Kornelis, 2006. "Olefins from conventional and heavy feedstocks: Energy use in steam cracking and alternative processes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 425-451.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Griffin, Paul W. & Hammond, Geoffrey P., 2019. "Industrial energy use and carbon emissions reduction in the iron and steel sector: A UK perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C), pages 109-125.
    2. Musango, Josephine Kaviti & Ouma-Mugabe, John, 2024. "A generic technology assessment framework for sustainable energy transitions in African contexts," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    3. Fitzpatrick, John J. & Dooley, Paul, 2017. "Holistic view of CO2 reduction potential from energy use by an individual processing company," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 336-343.
    4. Paul W. Griffin & Geoffrey P. Hammond & Jonathan B. Norman, 2016. "Industrial energy use and carbon emissions reduction: a UK perspective," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(6), pages 684-714, November.
    5. Wang, Yanxia & Li, Kang & Gan, Shaojun & Cameron, Ché, 2019. "Analysis of energy saving potentials in intelligent manufacturing: A case study of bakery plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 477-486.
    6. Olateju, Babatunde & Kumar, Amit, 2013. "Techno-economic assessment of hydrogen production from underground coal gasification (UCG) in Western Canada with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) for upgrading bitumen from oil sands," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 428-440.
    7. Kaivo-oja, J. & Luukkanen, J. & Panula-Ontto, J. & Vehmas, J. & Chen, Y. & Mikkonen, S. & Auffermann, B., 2014. "Are structural change and modernisation leading to convergence in the CO2 economy? Decomposition analysis of China, EU and USA," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 115-125.
    8. Hobley, Alexander, 2019. "Will gas be gone in the United Kingdom (UK) by 2050? An impact assessment of urban heat decarbonisation and low emission vehicle uptake on future UK energy system scenarios," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 695-705.
    9. Chen, Yu & Zhao, Changyi & Chen, Shan & Chen, Wenqing & Wan, Kunyang & Wei, Jia, 2023. "Riding the green rails: Exploring the nexus between high-speed trains, green innovation, and carbon emissions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    10. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Bazilian, Morgan & Griffiths, Steve & Kim, Jinsoo & Foley, Aoife & Rooney, David, 2021. "Decarbonizing the food and beverages industry: A critical and systematic review of developments, sociotechnical systems and policy options," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    11. Hanak, Dawid P. & Powell, Dante & Manovic, Vasilije, 2017. "Techno-economic analysis of oxy-combustion coal-fired power plant with cryogenic oxygen storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 193-203.
    12. Zhihua Zhang, 2015. "Techno-Economic Assessment of Carbon Capture and Storage Facilities Coupled to Coal-Fired Power Plants," Energy & Environment, , vol. 26(6-7), pages 1069-1080, November.
    13. Peng, Benhong & Zhao, Yinyin & Elahi, Ehsan & Wan, Anxia, 2023. "Can third-party market cooperation solve the dilemma of emissions reduction? A case study of energy investment project conflict analysis in the context of carbon neutrality," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    14. Norman, Jonathan B., 2017. "Measuring improvements in industrial energy efficiency: A decomposition analysis applied to the UK," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 1144-1151.
    15. Shiraki, Hiroto & Matsumoto, Ken'ichi & Shigetomi, Yosuke & Ehara, Tomoki & Ochi, Yuki & Ogawa, Yuki, 2020. "Factors affecting CO2 emissions from private automobiles in Japan: The impact of vehicle occupancy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    16. Jiao, Shouhui & Wang, Feng & Wang, Lili & Biney, Bernard Wiafe & Liu, He & Chen, Kun & Guo, Aijun & Sun, Lanyi & Wang, Zongxian, 2022. "Systematic identification and distribution analysis of olefins in FCC slurry oil," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PA).
    17. Carapellucci, Roberto & Giordano, Lorena & Vaccarelli, Maura, 2017. "Application of an amine-based CO2 capture system in retrofitting combined gas-steam power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 808-826.
    18. Wang, Qiang & Song, Xiaoxin, 2021. "How UK farewell to coal – Insight from multi-regional input-output and logarithmic mean divisia index analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    19. Cullen, Jonathan M. & Allwood, Julian M., 2010. "Theoretical efficiency limits for energy conversion devices," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2059-2069.
    20. Khalilpour, Rajab, 2014. "Multi-level investment planning and scheduling under electricity and carbon market dynamics: Retrofit of a power plant with PCC (post-combustion carbon capture) processes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 172-186.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:227:y:2018:i:c:p:587-602. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.