Techno-economic assessment of waste heat-powered direct air capture in the refinery and petrochemical sectors in Saudi Arabia

The potential of direct air capture using adsorbents in cold climates.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has pledged to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2060. Direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) is critical for the country to meet its net-zero target given its reliance on fossil fuels and limited options for carbon dioxide removal (CDR). However, the role of DACCS in KSA’s national climate change mitigation has not been studied in the literature. In this study, we aim to understand the potential role of DACCS and the effect of its deployment timing in KSA’s transition toward its net-zero target using the Global Change Analysis Model (GCAM)-KSA, which is a version of GCAM with KSA split out as an individual region. We find that the annual DACCS CO2 sequestration in KSA reaches 0.28–0.33 Gt yr−1 by 2060 depending on its deployment timing. Early DACCS deployment, driven by its early and rapid cost reduction worldwide, could bring significant savings (∼420 billion USD during 2020–2060) in the cost of climate change mitigation in KSA, approximately 17% reduction relative to delayed DACCS deployment. Our study suggests a strong role for KSA to proactively invest in the R&D of DACCS, initiate early DACCS deployment, and explore a broad suite of CDR options.

Limits to Paris compatibility of CO2 capture and utilization

This study examines the asymmetric effects of oil prices, money supply, and the Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) on sectoral stock prices in Saudi Arabia. By applying a nonlinear auto-regressive distributive lag (NARDL) approach to monthly data spanning from January 2007 to December 2016, we found that the positive shocks of oil prices were more than the negative ones in the building and construction, energy and utilities, and petrochemical sectors, while higher oil prices adversely influenced the stock price of the bank and financial service sector. We identified the long-run and short-run asymmetric relationships of the Saudi stock market development on the stock prices of bank and financial services, energy and utilities, and the petrochemical sector and only a long-running asymmetric relationship with the building and construction sector. We also found the absence of long-run and short-run asymmetric impact of money supply on three sectors, namely, building and construction, energy and utilities, and the petrochemical sector except for the bank and financial service sector where only a long-running asymmetric relation was observed. These findings are appropriate for investors and portfolio managers to make judicious investment decisions. Policymakers should diversify their economic sectors apart from the oil dependencies to achieve the Vision 2030.

Saudi Arabia's petrochemical sector accounts for a significant portion of non-oil exports and has the potential to contribute significantly to the Kingdom's diversification. In this study, Autometrics —a machine learning method, was first employed to estimate export equations of chemicals and rubber-plastics for 1993-2020. The estimated equations were then integrated into a macroeconometric model called KAPSARC Global Energy Macroeconometric Model (KGEMM) and a scenario analysis was performed for the diversification effects of foreign and domestic price shocks till 2035. The scenario analysis showed that a 10% increase in foreign prices leads to 0.40 percentage point and 0.13 percentage point more diversified exports and economy on average for 2023-2035. Regarding domestic prices, a 19% increase in industrial fossil fuel prices and a 10% increase in ethane price result in less than a 0.1 percentage point contraction in the diversification of exports and economy if the revenues from the price reforms are not recycled back to the economy. The reforms can boost economic diversification by 0.05 percentage point if the revenues are recycled back to the petrochemical sector as an investment. If domestic price reforms are coupled with the investment in the petrochemical sector and 50% of this investment goods are locally produced, then diversification of Saudi export and economy enlarge considerably—by 0.20 percentage point and 0.26 percentage point, respectively.

Ending fossil-based growth: Confronting the political economy of petrochemical plastics

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine managerial efficiency of the whole population of petrochemical firms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). It also identifies the root causes of inefficiencies and proposes measures to overcome these.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses the data envelopment analysis approach to measure the managerial efficiency in context of various returns-to-scales. To glean further insights into the sources of inefficiency, the study investigates the extent of utilization of resources by comparing target inputs vis-à-vis the actual inputs used. This provides the authors information about the degree of underutilization of resources as well as an insight into the sources of inefficiency, e.g., those stemming from the managerial or scale of operations.FindingsThe findings reveal a great amount of inefficiencies in Saudi petrochemical sector. These inefficiencies arise from both the underutilization of resources as well as the inability of petrochemical firms to run their operations at optimal scales.Practical implicationsThe findings of the study allude toward measures that managers might adopt to overcome the issues of inefficiency. They ought to ensure better utilization of resources by running operations of the firms at optimal scales of production. The firms operating under the sub-optimum scales of operations need to revisit their marketing and production strategies. These might take up the form of boosting marketing efforts to win more orders from customers and increasing production volumes that could allow these firms to take advantage of economies of scale.Originality/valueThis paper is a first attempt to measure efficiency of petrochemical sector in KSA which stands as the key contributor to the national exchequer. Since the study consists of the whole population of petrochemical firms in KSA, it measures the “true” managerial efficiency of petrochemical firms in the sector. Further, being a pioneer study on managerial efficiency of petrochemical sector, it extends original contribution to the literature on efficiency of firms, combined with rich insights into sources of inefficiencies.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has pledged to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2060. Direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS) is critical for the country to meet its net-zero target given its reliance on fossil fuels and limited options for carbon dioxide (CO2) removal (CDR).

Negative emissions technologies are gaining widespread acceptance as crucial tools in achieving climate goals, such as keeping global temperatures below 2 °C of pre-industrial levels by 2100. Two technologies central to carbon dioxide removal efforts are direct air capture and Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. While both technologies have undergone extensive study, only a few studies have explored the potential of using biomass as an energy source for direct air capture technology. This is despite bioenergy with carbon capture having the ability to provide carbon-negative heat and power, as well as its potential impact on the climate mitigation goals of the century. This study aims to investigate the feasibility of meeting the energy requirements of a direct air capture unit using bioenergy. Combining these units will result in compounded negative emissions for the integrated system. The objective is to examine the thermal and electrical requirements of the two primary approaches used in direct air capture design: the liquid solvent and solid sorbent direct air capture units, and to calculate the compounded negative emissions achieved by integrating them with bioenergy. The results of this study demonstrate that for a direct air capture plant capturing 1 mega ton of carbon dioxide per year, approximately 1200 and 2400 tons of biomass per day would be sufficient to meet the energy needs of the solid sorbent and liquid solvent direct air capture systems, respectively. The combined capture efficiency of both types of direct air capture systems integrated with bioenergy stands at 91.19% to 93.9% with overall carbon captured up to 1.51 mega tons of carbon dioxide per year. Over the century, integrating bioenergy into direct air capture units can remove gigaton levels of carbon from the atmosphere without disrupting the demand–supply dynamics of existing and future energy systems.

The most widespread human-caused greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide (CO2). The automotive sector significantly contributes to CO2 emissions in the atmosphere due to the usage of fossil fuels, which is challenging to decarbonize. In addition, emissions from agricultural waste yield billions of tonnes of CO2 equivalent globally. These emissions results in an increase in the global average temperature. Direct carbon capture (DCC) technology eliminates CO2 from source and is predicted to achieve a net-zero carbon world when used on a wide scale. The sustainable and cost-effective CO2 collection by DCC has been achieved through the characteristics of the materials, high CO2 selectivity, regeneration performance, and appropriate design. Biochar is known for its richness in carbon and low-cost material made from various biomass wastes and exhibited favorable surface characteristics (porous nature, high surface area, and pore volume) for an effective and sustainable CO2 adsorbent. The aim of this work is to investigate the potential of biochar derived from Saudi Arabia’s agricultural waste for CO2 capture. The biochar-CO2 adsorber (bio-sorb) system is designed and tested for direct carbon capture for sustainable mitigation of climate change. The CO2 adsorber design results demonstrated that in order to achieve maximum CO2 adsorption the most appropriate design parameter are gas flowrate (100 mL/min) and, biochar particle size (0.35 mm), and temperature (25°C). The breakthrough adsorption results indicated 70% of CO2 was removed by biochar at the breakthrough time (102 min) and 5g of biochar saturated at 420 min. The adsorption capacity of biochar at breakthrough and saturated time is 5.1g/g CO2 and 21g/g. The biochar-adsorber system was designed for the direct capture of CO2 (concentration 2500 mg/L) and gas flow rate of 1000 m3/day. The biochar adsorber system should of size (height= 230.87 cm and diameter= 124.99 cm) with a minimum carbon requirement of 840.20 kg of biochar and a biochar saturation time of 1.73 days. The total amount of CO2 adsorbed onto biochar using one large-scale biochar adsorber system is estimated to be 1000.18 ton/per. The final prototype of direct carbon capture system-design contains three main sections supported with (<0.5 µm mesh, fan, sensor, silica gel, and fibric filter).

Direct air capture is a negative emission technology that captures CO2 directly from the air. It is shown to be a promising tool for fighting climate change, yet still a work in progress. Direct Air Capture of CO2 provides an overview of this technology, starting with an overview in Chapter 1 of major climate change events, moving into a comprehensive review of negative emission technologies in Chapter 2, including direct air capture. Chapter 2 covers some of the challenges associated with direct air capture and the feasibility of utilizing such a process for large-scale applications. Chapter 3 presents a literature review of sorbents under investigation for direct air capture. The advantages and disadvantages of each approach for direct air capture are extracted from results published in the literature and are summarized along with areas of ongoing work. Parallel to ongoing research on developing high-performing sorbents for direct air capture, companies and startups have begun testing pilot to commercial scale direct air capture plants. Chapter 4 summarizes the efforts of such institutions. Global CO2 markets under development to construct commercialization pathways for direct air capture, such as enhanced oil recovery, synthetic fuels, cement, greenhouses, and food and beverages, are also reviewed in Chapter 4. The digital primer concludes with the authors’ view on the prospects of direct air capture technology for fighting climate change. Information provided in all chapters is carefully referenced to relevant literature so the reader may dive deeper into the details if interested. The authors hope this digital primer will bring inspiration and ideas to young scientists.

: As the Gulf states embark on industrial diversification away from oil, their relationship with Asia is in the process of undergoing a significant transformation from uniform producer-consumer relations in the petroleum sector to a more complex multi-sectoral interaction. This article examines Saudi Arabia's relations with China and Japan in the petrochemical sector, the oldest and most competitive manufacturing sector in the Gulf economy, in order to provide insight for what Gulf-Asia “post-rentier” relations will be like in the future. China and Japan show mutually distinctive patterns of interaction with Saudi Arabia. China is in a horizontal relationship with Saudi Arabia, providing export and investment opportunities, but also increasingly competing in trade. Japan is in a vertical relationship, benefiting Saudi Arabia with technology transfer through inward investment and aid. Such varying patterns reflect their different levels of development, suggesting the need to discern “Two Asias”, and urging studies on Gulf-Asia relations to refocus on the roles played by advanced economies in Asia as well as those by China and India in the Gulf economy.

Direct air capture technologies have gained prominence as vital tools for atmospheric carbon dioxide removal, with four major categories, namely liquid solvent-based, solid sorbent-based, electrochemical, and emerging hybrid systems, demonstrating varying degrees of maturity and feasibility. Liquid solvent-based direct air capture, including systems using potassium hydroxide, amines, and advanced ionic liquids or deep eutectic solvents, benefits from high CO2 reactivity and established chemical regeneration processes, but faces limitations from high thermal energy demands, solvent degradation, and environmental handling concerns. Solid sorbent-based systems, such as those utilizing amine-functionalized materials or metal-organic frameworks, offer low-temperature regeneration and modular designs, yet often suffer from variable adsorption capacity under different humidity levels and degradation over multiple cycles. Electrochemical direct air capture is a rapidly advancing field that uses redox-active materials or ion-exchange membranes to reversibly bind and release CO2 using electrical energy. These systems enable operation under ambient conditions with high selectivity and reduced thermal input, though challenges persist in terms of redox material stability and scalability. Other emerging methods, such as cryogenic, photocatalytic, mineralization-based, and biological direct air capture, offer innovative pathways to reduce energy use or permanently sequester CO2, but remain at early developmental stages. While significant advances have improved energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and operational stability across direct air capture technologies, further research is needed to enhance long-term material performance, develop low-cost, scalable reactor designs, and improve integration with renewable energy systems. Future studies should prioritize techno-economic assessments, lifecycle analysis, and hybrid approaches that combine the strengths of multiple direct air capture pathways to achieve cost-effective and durable carbon removal at gigaton scales.

Non-abatable emissions are one of the decarbonization challenges that could be addressed with carbon-neutral fuels. One promising production pathway is the direct air capture (DAC) of carbon dioxide, followed by a solar thermochemical cycle and liquid fuel synthesis. In this study, we explore different combinations of these technologies to produce methanol from an economic perspective in order to determine the most efficient one. For this purpose, a model is built and simulated in Aspen Plus®, and a solar field is designed and sized with HFLCAL®. The inherent dynamics of solar irradiation were considered with the meteorological data from Meteonorm® at the chosen location (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia). Four different integration strategies are assessed by determining the minimum selling price of methanol for each technology combination. These values were compared against a baseline with no synergies between the DAC and the solar fuels production. The results show that the most economical methanol is produced with a central low-temperature DAC unit that consumes the low-quality waste heat of the downstream process. Additionally, it is determined with a sensitivity analysis that the optimal annual production of methanol is 11.8 kt/y for a solar field with a design thermal output of 280 MW.

Current climate targets require negative carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Direct air capture is a promising negative emission technology, but energy and material demands lead to trade-offs with indirect emissions and other environmental impacts. Here, we show by life-cycle assessment that the commercial direct air capture plants in Hinwil and Hellisheiði operated by Climeworks can already achieve negative emissions today, with carbon capture efficiencies of 85.4% and 93.1%. The climate benefits of direct air capture, however, depend strongly on the energy source. When using low-carbon energy, as in Hellisheiði, adsorbent choice and plant construction become more important, inducing up to 45 and 15 gCO2e per kilogram CO2 captured, respectively. Large-scale deployment of direct air capture for 1% of the global annual CO2 emissions would not be limited by material and energy availability. However, the current small-scale production of amines for the adsorbent would need to be scaled up by more than an order of magnitude. Other environmental impacts would increase by less than 0.057% when using wind power and by up to 0.30% for the global electricity mix forecasted for 2050. Energy source and efficiency are essential for direct air capture to enable both negative emissions and low-carbon fuels. Direct air capture (DAC) of CO2 has garnered interest as a negative emissions technology to help achieve climate targets, but indirect emissions and other environmental impacts must be better understood. Here, Deutz and Bardow perform a life-cycle assessment of DAC plants operated by Climeworks, based on industrial data.