How does the chemical industry seek a low-carbon transition

The petrochemical industry is an important pillar of China's national economy, with a long industrial chain and a wide range of products, which are closely related to the country's economic construction and people's daily life
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Restricted by the objective resource endowment of "rich coal, less oil, and lack of gas", the coal-based chemical industry has attracted more and more attention from the market, and the pressure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is increasing
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With the proposal of the dual-carbon target and the pressure of dual-control indicators, Chinese chemical companies have started to explore energy conservation and emission reduction work, actively seeking changes, and turning challenges into opportunities
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Boston Consulting Group (BCG) conducted an in-depth study of the current status of carbon emissions in China's chemical industry, the opportunities and challenges faced by low-carbon transformation, and combined with the development practices of leading companies to summarize the elements of carbon-neutral transformation of chemical companies, and shared several key reductions.
In order to provide a path guide for chemical enterprises in their journey of carbon neutralization, upgrading and transformation
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The chemical industry is under great pressure to reduce emissions

The carbon emissions of China's chemical industry are generally limited in total but high in intensity
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In 2019, China's carbon dioxide emissions were nearly 10 billion tons, of which the chemical sector accounted for about 4% of carbon emissions.
Compared with power and heat, metal smelting and other sectors, the chemical industry's carbon emissions per unit of income were higher than the national average for industrial industries.
, the emission intensity is outstanding, and it still faces greater pressure on emission reduction and carbon control
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The chemical industry contributes a lot to the economy of some regions, and it is necessary to respect the law and proceed step by step when promoting carbon reduction
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Affected by objective resource endowment conditions, the chemical industry has a high degree of economic contribution to some resource-intensive provinces
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In the actual promotion of dual-carbon work, it is necessary to balance the dual considerations of economic development and ecological environmental protection.
If high-energy-consuming projects are restricted across the board, it may have a negative impact on regional development
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Recently, policies have been issued frequently to guide the dual-carbon work in the chemical industry, and to correct the "one-size-fits-all" and "movement-style" carbon reduction behaviors in a timely manner
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In September 2021, the State Council issued the "Opinions on Completely, Accurately and Comprehensively Implementing the New Development Concept and Doing a Good Job in Carbon Neutralization".
It is the first key area for energy conservation and carbon reduction
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In October and November 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments have successively issued policies to define energy-saving and carbon-reduction targets for high-energy-consuming industries, including chemical industry
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In addition, in the face of excessive efforts in the pursuit of "dual control" of energy consumption in some regions, policies have also been issued in a timely manner to correct and adjust them
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Opportunities and challenges coexist

In terms of challenges, basic chemical products such as synthetic ammonia, oil refining, and methanol have the greatest room for carbon reduction
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From the product itself, chemical products with large annual carbon dioxide emissions mainly include basic chemical products such as synthetic ammonia, oil refining, methanol, calcium carbide, coal-to-oil and ethylene.
30% to 40% of the petrochemical industry
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As these basic chemical products are important raw materials for downstream products, it is imminent to find green alternatives
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The chemical industry is facing pressure from downstream application industries to control carbon and reduce carbon in raw materials
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Research conducted by BCG in partnership with the World Economic Forum found that upstream emissions account for approximately 80% of total carbon emissions in end-customer-facing industries such as electronics, construction, automotive, food and consumer
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Many companies in the terminal industry have also set emission reduction targets, forcing the chemical industry as a raw material input to reduce carbon and control carbon
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In the context of dual carbon, advanced application scenarios have spawned the development demand for green chemical materials and low-carbon technologies
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For example, the trend of low-carbon travel has promoted the replacement of traditional fuel vehicles by new energy vehicles, and has led to the exploration and research of new-generation battery technology and related raw materials and auxiliary materials
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Taking green recycling packaging as an example, it has led the industry to try and practice natural materials and bio-based materials to replace traditional petroleum-based materials
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The industry structure is facing optimization, the new capacity of high energy-consuming projects is limited, and the advantages of chemical enterprises with leading carbon emission control capabilities will become more and more obvious
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On the one hand, the approval of new projects with high energy consumption will become stricter, and the new space for traditional projects will be greatly reduced
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On the other hand, leading enterprises with leading carbon emission control levels use advanced processes and technologies to continuously optimize energy consumption, and expand high-quality production capacity through reduction and replacement.
The concentration and influence of leading companies will continue to increase
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The path to carbon neutrality

Starting from domestic and foreign leading practices, BCG summarized the three major elements of carbon neutrality upgrade and transformation of chemical enterprises, namely strategic vision, emission reduction tools and support systems, and conducted in-depth discussions on several key emission reduction tools
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Improve operational levels
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Through management optimization, equipment upgrade, technological transformation and process optimization, and energy cascade utilization, the operation efficiency of the company's existing business is improved, and energy conservation and emission reduction are promoted
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Optimize the energy structure
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Replacing traditional coal power with renewable energy power is another key to reducing carbon emissions
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At present, there are five main ways for Chinese enterprises to purchase renewable energy power: green certificate, direct investment, investment and construction of distributed energy projects, direct purchase of electricity, and market-oriented transactions of distributed power generation.
Enterprises should choose appropriate green power consumption according to their own conditions.
path
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Raw material substitution
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For chemical companies, there are both challenges and opportunities to replace fossil raw materials with eco-friendly green raw materials (such as bio-based materials, recyclable materials)
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Emerging technology development and application
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Many chemical companies are also actively investing in the research and application of advanced carbon reduction and carbon control technologies, including carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), electrolysis of water for hydrogen production, etc.
However, in general, the current technology is still immature and the scale of utilization is still small.

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Optimize product structure
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Chemical enterprises should also analyze the development strategy of product structure optimization under the dual-carbon policy, and explore and evaluate the feasibility of deploying green new products
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Combine the market attractiveness of the product with the strategic fit of the company, identify high-potential new product opportunities, and take green and low carbon into an important consideration
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Develop circular economy
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Circular economy is an important direction for low-carbon sustainable development.
In the actual implementation process, it faces the key requirements of ensuring the supply of raw materials, building cost competitiveness, adjusting the operating model, persisting for a long time, and establishing an ecological cooperation system
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In addition, companies can also consider achieving carbon control goals through carbon trading and carbon sinks
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Looking forward to the future, with the trend of low-carbon global industrial development, the carbon-neutral transformation of chemical companies is not only a challenge of the times, but also an opportunity to adjust their own business to improve competitiveness and achieve sustainable development
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Enterprises should turn challenges into opportunities, and early deployment is particularly critical
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On the one hand, it promotes energy conservation and carbon reduction in existing businesses through energy efficiency improvement, process optimization, and adoption of clean energy
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On the other hand, pay attention to and explore the development and commercialization of advanced carbon reduction technologies and models, carry out small-scale pilots and deployments conditionally, and prepare for low-carbon upgrading and transformation
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