Cullen, L. orcid.org/0000-0002-6179-2430, Meng, F. orcid.org/0000-0002-9014-1231, Lupton, R. orcid.org/0000-0001-8622-3085 et al. (1 more author) (2024) Reducing uncertainties in greenhouse gas emissions from chemical production. Nature Chemical Engineering, 1 (4). pp. 311-322. ISSN 2948-1198
Abstract
Uncertainties in greenhouse gas emissions estimates for petrochemical production have lacked quantification globally, impacting emissions reporting and decarbonization policymaking. Here we analyze cradle-to-gate emissions of 81 chemicals at 37,000 facilities worldwide, assessing 6 uncertainty sources. The results estimate a 34% uncertainty in total global emissions of 1.9 ± 0.6 Gt of CO2-equivalent emissions for 2020, and 15–40% uncertainties across most petrochemicals analyzed. The largest uncertainties stem from the inability to assign specific production processes to facilities owing to data limitations. Uncertain data on feedstock production and off-site energy generation contribute substantially, while on-site fuel combustion and chemical reactions have smaller roles. Allocation method choices for co-products are generally insignificant. Prioritizing facility-level process specification in data collection for just 20% of facilities could reduce global uncertainty by 80%. This underscores the necessity of quantifying uncertainty in petrochemical greenhouse gas emissions globally and outlines priorities for improved reporting. The dataset generated offers independent emissions factor estimates based on facility-specific information for 81 chemicals, supporting future analyses.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
Keywords: | Chemical engineering; Sustainability |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 15 Apr 2024 13:15 |
Last Modified: | 15 Apr 2024 13:15 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s44286-024-00047-z |
Related URLs: | |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:211511 |