Lee Nichols, Vice President, Content/Editor-in-Chief
Since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, dozens of nations around the world have vowed to mitigate carbon emissions from their respective economies. According to the United Nations, more than 70 countries have set ambitious net-zero emissions goals, and many have enacted new regulations and initiatives to meet those targets. These pathways include, but are not limited to: the broader adoption of electric vehicles (EVs); utilizing new low-/zero-carbon fuels (e.g., blue/green hydrogen) to decarbonize power, transport and heavy industry; increasing investments in renewable energy; increasing the percentage of biofeedstock blending in transportation fuels; incorporating the use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) or carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS); and boosting the production of biofuels and alternative/renewable fuels, among others.
The hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) has been engaged in an energy transition, as well. Over the past decade, numerous technologies have been released into the marketplace to help owner-operators manage their assets’ carbon intensity and boost energy efficiency, while increasing equipment/unit uptime and profitability.
As the HPI’s energy transition evolves and expands to different regions and sectors, it is important to stay engaged in the latest technologies, pathways and initiatives being enacted and used to help refineries and petrochemical plants increase energy efficiency and equipment uptime/reliability while adhering to new regulations from regional and federal government entities. Due to the importance of these initiatives, Hydrocarbon Processing has devoted the bulk of this issue to the technologies, projects/initiatives and pathways that refineries and petrochemical plants are utilizing in the HPI’s energy transition. These include:
The articles in this issue detail just a small portion of the many ways refinery and petrochemical plant owners are exploring and utilizing technologies to limit carbon emissions in their operations. The HPI’s energy transition represents another chapter in the way the industry continues to evolve, and Hydrocarbon Processing will continue to present these technologies, pathways and initiatives being instituted into the global refining and petrochemicals processing sectors. HP