Chemical industry development in the context of carbon neutrality

The second step is to choose the calculation method of greenhouse gas emissions, the international accounting standards have been issued, and the domestic industry accounting standards have been introduced, which can be divided into two categories: emissions from public works and emissions from industrial processes. For a breakdown, the reporting subject's total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions should equal the CO2 emissions from fuel combustion, plus the CO2 emissions from exhaust gas flare combustion, plus the CO2 emissions from industrial processes, minus the amount of CO2 recovered by the enterprise, plus the CO2 emissions implied by the net purchase of electricity and heat by the enterprise. (Report source: Future Think Tank)

The third step is to collect activity data and select emission factors, which can be measured by enterprises or recommended parameters. Generally speaking, data such as fuel consumption, raw material input, and product output can be obtained through the daily operation records of enterprises, and data such as carbon content and carbon oxidation rate of related substances can be determined according to national standards or recommended values.

Companies can then use calculation tools to calculate carbon emissions and finally aggregate emissions data. The three tables attached below are reference values that may be used in the calculation process, and the calculation of chemical carbon emissions in this paper will be based on the following data.

2.3. What are the differences in carbon emission intensity of different chemical products

Different chemical products have different carbon emission characteristics and may face different regulatory environments in the future. Based on the data provided by national standards and greenhouse gas accounting and reporting system, we sorted out and analyzed the carbon emissions of various chemicals in both public works and industrial processes, and refined the energy efficiency analysis of chemical products. We found that the proportion of carbon emissions from industrial processes of chemical products in the total emissions is higher than that of general industries, but the proportion of carbon emissions from public projects and industrial processes of different chemical products is different, and the emission intensity of coal chemical products is higher. In the analysis of coal-to-methanol, a typical chemical product, we calculated that the carbon emission of the industrial process is not far from the national standard, and is less than the theoretical carbon emission value.

2.3.1. The proportion of carbon emissions in the overall industrial process of the national economy is not high, but the chemical industry accounts for a relatively high proportion

China's industrial process emissions account for a relatively small proportion of the total emissions, and carbon emissions are stable in recent years. China's energy consumption is dominated by coal, which accounted for 75% of energy consumption in 2019, and industrial processes accounted for a relatively small share of carbon emissions, accounting for about 7%, and reached a peak around 2014, with emissions of about 680 million tons in 2019.

Different from the overall situation in China, the proportion of carbon emissions in China's chemical products industrial process is almost higher than 7%. According to the "Energy Efficiency Benchmark Level and Benchmark Level in Key Areas of High Energy Consumption Industries (2021 edition)" and the national standard of energy consumption quota, we sorted out the carbon emission standards of public works for typical chemical products; At the same time, according to the 2006 IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Guide and other corporate carbon emission accounting and reporting guidelines, we sorted out the industrial process emission standards of typical chemical products. Compared with the overall industrial process carbon emissions of the national economy, the proportion of carbon emissions from the industrial process of chemical products is generally higher, and the highest is nearly 97%.

2.3.2. Carbon emission intensity distribution of typical chemical products

By examining the carbon emissions of chemical products from public projects and industrial processes, all chemical products can be divided into four types to analyze the energy efficiency level of different chemical products.

From the perspective of carbon emissions per unit output, we sorted out and analyzed the carbon emissions per unit output of public works and industrial processes of more than ten chemical products, and divided them into four quadrants based on the average carbon emissions per unit output. Among them, coal-to-olefin and carbon black are in the high carbon emissions per unit output of public works and high carbon emissions per unit output of industrial processes, and have the highest carbon emissions per unit output of all chemical products. Other coal chemical products such as coal to ethylene glycol, coal to natural gas, coal to DME, etc., have higher carbon emissions per unit output in industrial processes; Synthetic ammonia, titanium dioxide, calcium carbide, etc. have higher carbon emissions per unit output in public works. In addition, the carbon emissions per unit output of chemical products such as nitric acid, soda ash and propylene oxide are relatively low.