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Cited by 60Environmental Impact and SustainabilitySustainability and Ecological Systems AnalysisEnergy, Environment, Economic Growth

Tracing fossil-based plastics, chemicals and fertilizers production in China

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Jiang, Meng, Cao, Yuheng, Liu, Changgong, Chen, Dingjiang, Zhou, Wenji, Wen, Qian, Yu, Hejiang, Jiang, Jian +4 more·2024·Nature Communications
DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-47930-0PMC PMC11078955
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Abstract

Phasing down fossil fuels is crucial for climate mitigation. Even though 80–90% of fossil fuels are used to provide energy, their use as feedstock to produce plastics, fertilizers, and chemicals, is associated with substantial CO 2 emissions. However, our understanding of hard-to-abate chemical production remains limited. Here we developed a chemical process-based material flow model to investigate the non-energy use of fossil fuels and CO 2 emissions in China. Results show in 2017, the chemical industry used 0.18 Gt of coal, 88.8 Mt of crude oil, and 12.9 Mt of natural gas as feedstock, constituting 5%, 15%, and 7% of China’s respective total use. Coal-fed production of methanol, ammonia, and PVCs contributes to 0.27 Gt CO 2 emissions ( ~ 3% of China’s emissions). As China seeks to balance high CO 2 emissions of coal-fed production with import dependence on oil and gas, improving energy efficiency and coupling green hydrogen emerges as attractive alternatives for decarbonization.

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Cited by

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Authors
Jiang, M., Cao, Y., Liu, C., Chen, D., Zhou, W., Wen, Q., Yu, H., Jiang, J., Ren, Y., Hu, S., Hertwich, E., & Zhu, B.
Affiliations
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NO)
  • Tsinghua University (CN)
  • Sinopec (China) (CN)
  • Renmin University of China (CN)
  • China National Petroleum and Chemical Planning Institute (CN)
  • International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (AT)
Corresponding author
  • Hertwich, Edgar
  • Zhu, Bing
ORCID
Venue
Nature Communications
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2024-05-08
Volume
15
Issue
1
Pages
3854-3854
ISSN
2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/s41467-024-47930-0
PMC
PMC11078955
OpenAlex
W4396749881
Cited by
60
References
8
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 4
FWCI
7.03
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • IIASA PURE (International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • Tsinghua-Sinopec Joint Institute for Green Chemical Industry Supporting Project
  • CIRCOMOD
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental Impact and Sustainability
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Sustainability and Ecological Systems Analysis
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Energy, Environment, Economic Growth
Keywords
chemical industry, plastic production, fertilizer production, CO2 emissions, coal, crude oil, natural gas, methanol, ammonia, polyvinyl chloride, material flow analysis, decarbonization, green hydrogen, energy efficiency, China

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