Fuel-related Emissions Research Articles

Health-Oriented Emission Control Strategy of Energy Utilization and Its Co-CO2 Benefits: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta, China.

Reducing air pollutants and CO2 emissions from energy utilization is crucial for achieving the dual objectives of clean air and carbon neutrality in China. Thus, an optimized health-oriented strategy is urgently needed. Herein, by coupling a CO2 and air pollutants emission inventory with response surface models for PM2.5-associated mortality, we shed light on the effectiveness of protecting human health and co-CO2 benefit from reducing fuel-related emissions and generate a health-oriented strategy for the Yangtze River Delta (YRD). Results reveal that oil consumption is the primary contributor to fuel-related PM2.5 pollution and premature deaths in the YRD. Significantly, curtailing fuel consumption in transportation is the most effective measure to alleviate the fuel-related PM2.5 health impact, which also has the greatest cobenefits for CO2 emission reduction on a regional scale. Reducing fuel consumption will achieve substantial health improvements especially in eastern YRD, with nonroad vehicle emission reductions being particularly impactful for health protection, while on-road vehicles present the greatest potential for CO2 reductions. Scenario analysis confirms the importance of mitigating oil consumption in the transportation sector in addressing PM2.5 pollution and climate change.

Cruise range modeling of different flight strategies for transport aircraft using genetic algorithms and particle swarm optimization

Cruise flight profile accounts for the highest percentage of fuel consumption on long-haul flights, which makes the optimization of cruise range crucial for a net-zero, sustainable, secure, and affordable energy future. Therefore, flying at altitudes close to the optimum cruise altitude will significantly reduce fuel consumption and fuel-related emissions; It will also increase cruise range. In this context, accurate range calculations are critical to evaluate and understand the environmental and economic impacts of all aircraft. This paper proposes two novel non-conventional models of Genetic Algorithms (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to estimate the cruise range of jet powered transport aircraft as a first attempt in the literature. Using both methods, non-linear models which provide range formulations dependent on velocity, aircraft weight and cruise flight altitude were developed for the cruise flight strategies including constant altitude-constant lift coefficient and constant altitude-constant Mach number. The accuracies of both derived models were analyzed and it was seen that both models are capable of providing satisfactory cruise range prediction results.

Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters Obtained From Safflower Oil: A Fully Renewable Biofuel

Abstract With the aim to obtain a pure renewable second-generation biofuel, transesterification reaction of safflower oil and sugar beet molasses-originated ethanol and usage options as a blend component were investigated. Depleting fossil fuels, increasing fossil fuel prices, and fossil fuel-related emissions are significant global problems. The progress in pure bio-based and safer fuels gains importance to figure out these problems. Biodiesel is an excellent fuel candidate that can substitute conventional diesel fuel. For its production, fatty acid methyl esters were primarily proposed. However, with their many advantages, ethyl esters have come to the fore because of environmental and technical issues. Thus, using a by-product originated bioethanol as alcohol and safflower oil as a nonedible raw material would further enhance the renewability and sustainability of one of the second-generation biofuels. This article studied the transesterification reaction of safflower oil with sugar-beet molasses-originated bioethanol. The effects of the safflower oil:ethanol (mole:mole) ratio, catalyst amount, and temperature on the ester content were individually investigated. The fuel properties of safflower oil ethyl ester and 2%, 5%, and 7% v/v safflower oil ethyl ester-blended diesel and rural diesel fuels were determined according to the standards. The main advantages of ethyl ester addition to diesel fuel include the increase in flash point and the decrease in the sulfur content. However, some additives should improve some properties (cold filter plugging point and oxidation stability).

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the carbon footprint of a Philippine university

The Philippines entered its most prolonged lockdown in 2020 when the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) became a pandemic. Additionally, there has been a shift from physical to online classes at all education levels. Against this backdrop, the restrictions imposed on the education sector could have environmental impacts, including on the carbon emission structure. Here, we compare the carbon footprint before and during the pandemic, determine how the pandemic changed the activities that directly affected carbon emissions, and present reduction methods to minimise emissions in the new normal. We calculated emissions before and during the pandemic to achieve these goals, using the data obtained from University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu. The total CO2 emissions of UP Cebu in 2019 were estimated to be 1420.7 tCO2e, which did not significantly differ from the 2018 emissions. In 2020, the total CO2 emissions were estimated to be 555.8 tCO2e, equivalent to a 60.9% decrease from the 2019 emissions. The per capita emissions in UP Cebu for 2019 and 2020 were estimated to be 0.9 tCO2e and 0.3 tCO2e, respectively—both below the national average. The pandemic caused a significant decrease in emissions per activity, except for fuel-related emissions which increased by 305.8%. In the post-COVID-19 world, especially when in-person classes return, UP Cebu must consider concrete strategies to curb its emissions. Specific decarbonisation methods for each activity were simulated and discussed. The results and reduction strategies presented are relevant to UP Cebu and other higher education institutions in the Philippines and Asia with the same characteristics.

Dynamic Role of Green Energy Efficiency and Climate Technologies in Realizing Environmental Sustainability: Fresh Insights From China

Amid rising industrialization and economic progress, China has shown exponential growth in energy and fossil fuel consumption; therefore, it faces great global concern and widespread criticism for energy and fuel conservation to reduce fuel-related emissions. In addition, the recent spread of COVID-19 instigates the impact of environmental pollution, exaggerates the virus intensity, and lowers people’s immunity due to poor air quality. Therefore, this study explored the role of green energy efficiency and climate technologies in achieving carbon neutrality in China using an advanced quantile autoregressive distributed lag (QARDL) framework. The results indicated that green energy efficiency and climate technologies significantly reduce environmental pollution across all quantiles in the long run. In contrast, urbanization enhances environmental degradation at lower and higher emissions quantiles, while trade only promotes environmental pollution at lower quantiles. These findings suggested using alternative energy sources and carbon-reducing technologies to ensure a sustainable environment.

Decarbonizing cement production

Paul Fennell is a professor of clean energy at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London. His work encompasses the decarbonization and re-thinking of industrial processes, including the production of iron and steel and cement manufacture. He also works in the broader field of industrial decarbonization, including synergies between industry and power generation. Steve Davis is a professor of Earth system science and civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Irvine, where he researches trends and drivers of GHG emissions, net-zero emissions energy systems, and the environmental impacts of energy production, climate change, and international trade. Aseel Mohamed received an MSc in advanced chemical engineering from Imperial College London. Her research focused on investigating the various decarbonization technologies used to capture CO2 emissions in order to mitigate climate change effects.

Attribution of the accelerating increase in atmospheric methane during 2010–2018 by inverse analysis of GOSAT observations

Abstract. We conduct a global inverse analysis of 2010–2018 GOSAT observations to better understand the factors controlling atmospheric methane and its accelerating increase over the 2010–2018 period. The inversion optimizes anthropogenic methane emissions and their 2010–2018 trends on a 4∘×5∘ grid, monthly regional wetland emissions, and annual hemispheric concentrations of tropospheric OH (the main sink of methane). We use an analytical solution to the Bayesian optimization problem that provides closed-form estimates of error covariances and information content for the solution. We verify our inversion results with independent methane observations from the TCCON and NOAA networks. Our inversion successfully reproduces the interannual variability of the methane growth rate inferred from NOAA background sites. We find that prior estimates of fuel-related emissions reported by individual countries to the United Nations are too high for China (coal) and Russia (oil and gas) and too low for Venezuela (oil and gas) and the US (oil and gas). We show large 2010–2018 increases in anthropogenic methane emissions over South Asia, tropical Africa, and Brazil, coincident with rapidly growing livestock populations in these regions. We do not find a significant trend in anthropogenic emissions over regions with high rates of production or use of fossil methane, including the US, Russia, and Europe. Our results indicate that the peak methane growth rates in 2014–2015 are driven by low OH concentrations (2014) and high fire emissions (2015), while strong emissions from tropical (Amazon and tropical Africa) and boreal (Eurasia) wetlands combined with increasing anthropogenic emissions drive high growth rates in 2016–2018. Our best estimate is that OH did not contribute significantly to the 2010–2018 methane trend other than the 2014 spike, though error correlation with global anthropogenic emissions limits confidence in this result.

Fossil fuel-related emissions were the major source of NH3 pollution in urban cities of northern China in the autumn of 2017

As the most important gas-phase alkaline species, atmospheric ammonia (NH3) contributes considerably to the formation and development of fine-mode particles (PM2.5), which affect air quality and environmental health. Recent satellite-based observations suggest that the North China Plain is the largest agricultural NH3 emission source in China. However, our isotopic approach shows that the surface NH3 in the intraregional urban environment of Beijing-Tianjin-Shijiazhuang is contributed primarily by combustion-related processes (i.e., coal combustion, NH3 slip, and vehicle exhaust). Specifically, the Batch fractionation model was used to describe the partitioning of gaseous NH3 into particles and to trace the near-ground atmospheric NH3 sources. With the development of haze pollution, the dynamics of δ15N-NH4+ were generally consistent with the fractionation model. The simulated initial δ15N-NH3 values ranged from −22.6‰ to −2.1‰, suggesting the dominance of combustion-related sources for urban NH3. These emission sources contributed significantly (92% on hazy days and 67% on clean days) to the total ambient NH3 in urban cities, as indicated by a Bayesian mixing model. Based on the Batch fractionation model, we concluded the following: 1) δ15N-NH4+ can be used to model the evolution of fine-mode aerosols and 2) combustion-related sources dominate the near-ground atmospheric NH3 in urban cities. These findings highlight the need for regulatory controls on gaseous NH3 emissions transported from local and surrounding industrial sources.

Assessing Contributions of Agricultural and Nonagricultural Emissions to Atmospheric Ammonia in a Chinese Megacity.

Ammonia (NH3) is the predominant alkaline gas in the atmosphere contributing to formation of fine particles-a leading environmental cause of increased morbidity and mortality worldwide. Prior findings suggest that NH3 in the urban atmosphere derives from a complex mixture of agricultural (mainly livestock production and fertilizer application) and nonagricultural (e.g., urban waste, fossil fuel-related emissions) sources; however, a citywide holistic assessment is hitherto lacking. Here we show that NH3 from nonagricultural sources rivals agricultural NH3 source contributions in the Shanghai urban atmosphere. We base our conclusion on four independent approaches: (i) a full-year operation of a passive NH3 monitoring network at 14 locations covering urban, suburban, and rural landscapes; (ii) model-measurement comparison of hourly NH3 concentrations at a pair of urban and rural supersites; (iii) source-specific NH3 measurements from emission sources; and (iv) localized isotopic signatures of NH3 sources integrated in a Bayesian isotope mixing model to make isotope-based source apportionment estimates of ambient NH3. Results indicate that nonagricultural sources and agricultural sources are both important contributors to NH3 in the urban atmosphere. These findings highlight opportunities to limit NH3 emissions from nonagricultural sources to help curb PM2.5 pollution in urban China.

Environmental impacts of alternative antifouling methods and use patterns of leisure boat owners

Leisure boaters in the Baltic Sea apply more copper as antifoulant than needed and permitted. Initiatives have been started to identify efficient means making boat owners comply with regulations through changed consumer behavior. We compare the environmental impacts of conventional and alternative antifouling methods, using Life Cycle Assessment methodology. Two non-toxic methods were compared with biocide paint. To study the influence of boat owner use patterns, paint and brush washer scenarios (e.g., different paints, amounts, and maintenance) were created based on current use and recommendations. The functional unit was an average Swedish leisure boat kept fouling free for 1 year and impact categories studied were freshwater eco-toxicity and greenhouse gas emissions. Production of paints, fuel, electricity, and material used in the non-toxic methods was included. Sensitivity analysis was performed regarding the characterization method for toxicity, the fuel consumption data, and the copper release data. The non-toxic methods, hull cover and brush washer, performed best, but a trade-off was identified when the brush washer was located further away from the home port, when additional transportation increased greenhouse gas emissions. The resources needed for the non-toxic methods (production of materials and electricity used) cause considerably lower toxic emissions than paint. In the paint scenarios, using less paint and cleaning the boat over a washing pad with water treatment reduces aquatic emissions significantly. Fuel-related emissions were consistently lower than paint-related emissions. In the best-performing paint scenario, fuel- and paint-related emissions represented 26 and 67% of total emissions, respectively. The non-toxic methods hull cover and brush washers lead to lower emissions, especially when brush washers were located close to the home port. Lacking such infrastructure, “painting less” is a way to reduce emissions, by using lower amounts of paint and painting less frequently. More widespread use of these antifouling strategies would considerably reduce copper emissions from leisure boating to the Baltic Sea. We suggest that support to marinas for investments in brush washers and washing pads should be further developed to enable boat owners to choose more sustainable antifouling methods and that information campaigns on the combined economic, health, and ecosystem impacts of antifouling are especially designed for boaters, marinas, market actors, and policy makers for a change to take place towards more sustainable practices.

Fuel-related Emissions from the Croatian Municipal Solid Waste Collection System in 2013: Mixed Municipal Waste

Fuel-related Emissions from the Croatian Municipal Solid Waste Collection System in 2013: Mixed Municipal Waste

The environmental impacts of green technologies in TX

Using detailed electricity consumption and solar generation data from homes in an Austin TX neighborhood between 2013 and 2015, we calculate the environmental benefits of electric vehicles and rooftop solar panels. We estimate time-varying electric grid marginal emissions and water consumption rates in ERCOT through a regression based analysis, and find that emissions and water consumption rates are lowest at high demand times due to those hours' reliance on cleaner natural gas generators. We utilize these emissions and water consumption rates to estimate the avoided GHGs and water consumption from grid electricity that solar panels provide. For electric vehicles, we estimate the net effect of this technology, given the avoided gasoline consumption but increase in grid-related charging. We find that, on average, solar panels avoid approximately 75% of yearly grid-related emissions (0.7tons CO2/year per kW of solar capacity) and yearly grid-related water consumption (400gal/year per kW of solar capacity), where the benefits depend on the orientation of the panels. We also find that electric vehicle deployment results in avoiding up to 70% of fuel-related emissions (3.5tons CO2/year) and 60% of fuel-related water consumption (1400gal/year), though the benefits significantly decrease with the efficiency of the counterfactual vehicle.

Life Cycle Assessment of viticultural technical management routes (TMRs): comparison between an organic and an integrated management route

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Aims</strong>: Using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), this study aims to compare the environmental impacts of two different viticultural technical management routes (TMRs); integrated and organic) and to identify the operations that contribute the most to the impacts.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Methods and results</strong>: LCA impact scores were expressed in two functional units: 1 ha of cultivated area and 1 kg of collected grape. We studied all operations from field preparation before planting to the end-of-life of the vine. Inputs and outputs were transformed into potential environmental impacts thanks to SALCA™ (V1.02) and USETox™ (V1.03) methods. Plant protection treatments were a major cause of impact for both TMRs for fuel-related impact categories. For both TMRs, the main contributors to natural resource depletion and freshwater ecotoxicity were trellis system installation and background heavy metal emissions, respectively.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Conclusion</strong>: This study shows that the studied organic TMR has higher impact scores than the integrated TMR for all the chosen impact categories except eutrophication. However, the chosen TMRs are only typical of integrated and organic viticulture in Loire Valley and some emission models (heavy metal, fuel-related emissions, and nitrogen emissions) have to be improved in order to better assess the environmental impacts of viticulture. Soil quality should also be integrated to LCA results in viticulture because this lack may be a disadvantage for organic viticulture.</p><strong>Significance and impact of study</strong>: This study is among the first to compare LCA results of an integrated and an organic TMR.

Carbon footprint from helitankers: sustainable decision making in aerial wildfire fighting

Carbon footprint (CF) can be a key factor stimulating innovation while driving sustainable decision making. The air transport sector and wildfires are considered to be relevant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Among the available resources for wildfire suppression, aerial firefighting – particularly using helitankers – is the most effective method. However the high economic costs and fuel-related emissions incurred by helitankers prevent their widespread use. This work aims to calculate the CF from helitankers in order to assess this new indicator for sustainable decision making. The CF is calculated here by a compound method based on the financial accounts of a Spanish company that owns 20 helitankers. The total cumulative corporate CF in 2012 was 5497 t CO2 equivalents. We discuss the influence of the method, its implications and future actions for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Our experience should be considered as a pilot study providing further evidence of the value of using sustainable indicators in decision making.

Factoring the car-climate challenge: Insights and implications

Abstract Three approaches commonly are identified for controlling automobile greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: reducing travel demand, improving vehicle efficiency and using alternatively (non-petroleum) fueled vehicles (AFVs). Similarly, sector emissions are factored by travel distance, vehicle fuel intensity and fuel GHG (“carbon”) intensity. Analyzing these factors using US and China data reveals that for a broad range of conditions, stringent GHG emissions limits for the auto sector imply limits of comparable stringency for fuel carbon intensity. However, carbon intensity is a modeled representation of complex energy supply and use systems rather than a measurable property of fuels themselves. Carefully examining the locations and magnitudes of fuel-related emissions indicates that the proper policy focus is on the sectors that supply fuel rather than the choice of fuels in the auto sector. Therefore, beyond fundamental R&D, policies to commercialize AFVs are not necessarily required for climate protection at present. In addition to managing travel demand and improving vehicle efficiency, the implied policy priority is limiting net GHG impacts in the energy and other natural resource sectors that supply fuels. Future work is needed to develop GHG management protocols for liquid fuel supply systems involving fungible commodities and dynamic global supply chains.

Renewed methane increase for five years (2007–2011) observed by solar FTIR spectrometry

Abstract. Trends of column-averaged methane for the time period (1996, Sep 2011) are derived from the mid-infrared (mid-IR) solar FTIR time series at the Zugspitze (47.42° N, 10.98° E, 2964 m a.s.l.) and Garmisch (47.48° N, 11.06° E, 743 m a.s.l.). Trend analysis comprises a fit to the de-seasonalized time series along with bootstrap resampling for quantifying trend uncertainties. We find a positive trend during [1996, 1998] of 9.0 [3.2, 14.7] ppb yr−1 for Zugspitze (95% confidence interval), an insignificant growth during [1999, mid 2006] of 0.8 [−0.1, 1.7] ppb yr−1 (Zugspitze), and a significant renewed increase during [mid 2006, Sep 2011] of 5.1 [4.2, 6.0] ppb yr−1 for Garmisch, which is in agreement with 4.8 [3.8, 5.9] ppb yr−1 for Zugspitze. The agreement of methane trends at the two closely neighboring FTIR sites Zugspitze and Garmisch within the uncertainties indicates a good station-to-station consistency as a basis for future trend analyses by the ground-based mid-IR FTIR network on the global scale. Furthermore, the Zugspitze FTIR trend for the time interval [Jul 2006, Jun 2009] is found to agree with the trend derived from SCIAMACHY (WFM-DOAS v2.0.2) data within the 95% confidence intervals. In case a 1000-km pixel selection radius around the Zugspitze is used, the confidence interval is narrower for the FTIR trend (6.9 [4.2, 9.5] ppb yr−1) compared to SCIAMACHY (7.1 [5.1, 8.6] ppb yr−1). If, however, a loosened pixel selection is used (≈1000-km half-width latitudinal band), the SCIAMACHY trend significance interval is narrower (6.8 [5.1, 8.6] ppb yr−1) compared to Zugspitze FTIR (5.7 [3.0, 8.3] ppb yr−1). While earlier studies using surface network data revealed changes of 8.0 ± 0.6 ppb in 2007, 6.4 ± 0.6 ppb in 2008, and 4.7 ± 0.6 ppb in 2009 (Dlugokencky et al., 2011), our updated result proves that the renewed methane increase meanwhile has been persisting for >5 years [mid 2006, Sep 2011]. This is either the longest and largest positive trend anomaly since the beginning of systematic observations more than 25 years ago or the onset of a new period of strongly increasing CH4 levels in the atmosphere. Several scenarios have been developed to explain the persistent increase observed, mainly invoking an increase in emissions from natural wetlands, an increase in fossil fuel-related emissions or a decrease in OH concentrations. However, more work is needed to fully attribute this increase to a particular source or sink.

Forest Bioenergy or Forest Carbon? Assessing Trade-Offs in Greenhouse Gas Mitigation with Wood-Based Fuels

The potential of forest-based bioenergy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when displacing fossil-based energy must be balanced with forest carbon implications related to biomass harvest. We integrate life cycle assessment (LCA) and forest carbon analysis to assess total GHG emissions of forest bioenergy over time. Application of the method to case studies of wood pellet and ethanol production from forest biomass reveals a substantial reduction in forest carbon due to bioenergy production. For all cases, harvest-related forest carbon reductions and associated GHG emissions initially exceed avoided fossil fuel-related emissions, temporarily increasing overall emissions. In the long term, electricity generation from pellets reduces overall emissions relative to coal, although forest carbon losses delay net GHG mitigation by 16-38 years, depending on biomass source (harvest residues/standing trees). Ethanol produced from standing trees increases overall emissions throughout 100 years of continuous production: ethanol from residues achieves reductions after a 74 year delay. Forest carbon more significantly affects bioenergy emissions when biomass is sourced from standing trees compared to residues and when less GHG-intensive fuels are displaced. In all cases, forest carbon dynamics are significant. Although study results are not generalizable to all forests, we suggest the integrated LCA/forest carbon approach be undertaken for bioenergy studies.

Lessons from the London Climate Change Strategy: Focusing on Combined Heat and Power and Distributed Generation

Climate change differs from conventional environmental challenges in that it bridges spatial scales in unprecedented ways: anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are emitted from very local activities, but impacts are transmitted through processes at the global level to distant “elsewheres.” This makes it particularly difficult for the individual observer, actor, or victim to recognize mechanisms of cause and effect. The irreducible complexity of the transmission processes involved makes it difficult to allocate responsibility and establish policy responses. Cities and the urban scale are particularly relevant in this context as they are hosting most GHG-emitting activities. While urban centers cover only about 2 percent of the terrestrial surface and harbor half of the global population, it is estimated that about three-quarters of the fossil fuel-related emissions are caused by cities. Cities are, consequentially, a most relevant focus for mitigation initiatives as re-engineering our energy systems will require changes in the fabric and maybe even function of urban areas. Moreover, cities are also an important scale for innovation and adaptation. They host crucial nodes of research and economic infrastructure and are usually early adopters of new technology. They are characterized by high-energy density and heterogeneity in energy use profiles which allow potential for better integration and provide economies of scale and agglomeration. Still most of the coordinated and international action in climate change abatement and mitigation occurs at the national level, and it is only poorly understood and articulated how national-level policies and reduction targets will actually be downscaled to measures and activities at the local level. Given the large regional variation in activities causing climate change and differences in vulnerability towards impacts of climate change, we need to better understand the implications and leverage available at the sub-national and local level. This paper focuses on the metropolitan region of Greater London and describes the evolution and structure of current energy consumption patterns as well as projections under various assumptions on policy initiatives. It presents a series of policy measures taken and critically discusses their likelihood of success.

CO 2 from non-energy use of fuels: A global, regional and national perspective based on the IPCC Tier 1 approach

Based on the EDGAR 3.2 emission datasets, we present the relative importance of this source globally, regionally, and for individual countries as part of total fossil fuel-related emissions, based on the IPCC Tier 1 reference calculation using IEA/UN data for 1970–1995. Thus, we also show the trends of these shares as well as the type of non-energy source (chemical feedstock, industry in general, transport, other sectors) and the fuel type (solid, liquid, gaseous). The share of CO 2 from non-energy use (NEU) is increasing over time; globally from 1% in 1970 to almost 3% of total fossil fuel emissions of CO 2 in 1995. Expressed as fraction of total CO 2 emissions from the industry sector, the shares were about 4% in 1970, 7% in 1990 and 12% in 1995 for global total emissions. In most regions chemical feedstock emissions of CO 2 have become increasingly important. The share of CO 2 from feedstocks in total CO 2 from NEU has increased globally from about 55% in 1970 to 65% in 1990 and even 80% in 1995. This large increase is largely responsible for the increasing share of total CO 2 NEU emissions. With an uncertainty of the order of 10–30% in CO 2 from NEU of oil products there should be ample room for improvement.

Bestandsaufnahmen zur Erstellung einer Okobilanz für petrochemische Zwischenprodukte: Paraffine, Olefine, Benzen, Ethylen und Ethylenoxid / A Life-Cycle Inventory for the Production of Petrochemical Intermediates in Europe: Paraffins, olefins, benzene, ethylene and ethylene oxide

The resource requirements and environmental emissions involved in the production of n-paraffins, n-olefins, benzene, ethylene and ethylene oxide from petrochemical feedstocks are presented. The raw material requirements for the production of 1000 kg n-paraffins is 1079 kg of crude oil. Energy of Material Resource (47.4 GJ/1000 kg) accounts for 85 % of the total energy for the n-paraffins production, which is 55.6 GJ/1000 kg. 91% of this energy is supplied by crude oil. Fuel-related emissions account for 59% of solid waste which is 12 kg in total for 1000 kg of n-paraffins production. Emissions from the production and combustion of fuels account for most of the atmospheric emissions. In contrast, waterborne emissions arise in fairly similar amounts from both process and fuel-related sources. The raw material requirements for the production of 1000 kg n-olefins are 659 kg of crude oil and 537 kg of natural gas. Process energy accounts for 33.6% of the total energy for the n-olefins production, which is 88.4 GJ/1000kg. Natural gas with 58.4% and crude oil with 35.5% provide most of the energy requirements. Fuel-related emissions account for 84.9 % of the total solid waste, which is 59.9 kg/1000 kg of n-olefins production. Emissions from the production and combustion of fuels account for the majority of atmospheric emissions. In contrast, the process accounts for most of the waterborne emissions. The raw material requirement for the production of 1000 kg of benzene is 1136 kg of crude oil. The Energy of Material Resource accounts for 80.1% of the total energy for the benzene production, which is 62.3 GJ/1000 kg. 85.2 % of the total energy is provided by crude oil. Fuel-related emissions account for 70 % of the total solid waste, which is 15.6 kg/1000 kg of benzene production. Emissions form the production process of benzene account for most of the atmospheric and waterborne emissions. For ethylene, which is mainly produced from crude oil and natural gas, the Energy of Material Resource (56.3 GJ/1000 kg) represents 79 % of the total energy requirements for the product (70.9 GJ/1000 kg) and is provided by natural gas (44%) and crude oil (56%). Most of the atmospheric emissions arise from the production and consumption of fuels, although 40 % of the fossil carbon dioxide emissions are process-related. 77% of the solid waste is fuel-related. Most the waterborne waste arises from process emissions. A comparison of this study with a publication from the Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe shows close similarity with regards to energy and raw material use. For ethylene oxide, the Energy of Material Resource (45.3 GJ) accounts for 70% of the total energy requirement and is mainly provided by crude oil (39%) and natural gas (31%). Most of the atmospheric emissions arise from the production and combustion of fuels but 55 % of the total organics and 48 % of the carbon dioxide are process-related. 87 % of the solid waste is fuel-related. The waterborne wastes are predominantly process-related.