Search Results (4)

Inner Mongolia is a key region for China’s clean energy production and a demonstration base for modern coal chemical industry production. However, modern coal chemical industry development in this region faces many problems, such as complex downstream product structures, low value-added products, and severe environmental pollution. With limited future coal allowance in the coal chemical industry, the scarce available coal will likely be allocated to fields with strong product competitiveness to enhance industrial chain value. Given this, the Inner Mongolia coal-to-olefin industrial chain is selected to explore its strategic expansion directions. An improved value chain accounting method is proposed to account for the value of each segment of the coal-to-olefin industrial chain in Inner Mongolia from 2011 to 2022. The improved value chain accounting method is then combined with system dynamics to construct a model for selecting the expansion directions of the coal-to-olefin industrial chain based on the value chain perspective. Finally, the differences in the value of each future expansion direction are analyzed through scenario simulation and comparison. The most important result is that the higher the extension of the coal-to-olefin industry chain in Inner Mongolia, the higher the value of the industry chain. Carbon punishment is the most important factor affecting the value of the industry chain, and enterprises and governments should increase investment in innovation and renewable energy. Accordingly, this study provides a decision-making method for selecting the optimal expansion direction of the modern coal chemical industrial chain in Inner Mongolia. Full article

The modern coal chemical industry is a typical high carbon emission industry, which has formed a large-scale development in China. In the context of carbon neutrality, it is considered to be an ideal combination mode that captures high-concentration CO₂ emitted by the modern coal chemical plants and transports it to oilfields through pipelines, which can both realize the low-carbon development goals of the modern coal chemical industry and reduce the cost of the whole process of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), as well as promote the development of CCS in China. Based on the data from modern coal chemical projects and depleted oil basins across China, a model of a pipeline network with optimal layout design was constructed, aiming to achieve specific emission reduction targets. Meanwhile, its economic effects will be analyzed. It turns out that this layout can help achieve an annual emission reduction of 280 million tons of CO₂, with an average annual net income of USD 2.20 billion, and a unit net income of USD 7.85 per ton of CO₂. A total of 166 pipelines up to 15,783 km in total length need to be built across China. Suitable storage sites can be found within an average radius of 94 km for emission sources. A total of 11,115 km of pipelines needs to be built in the “Three North” areas, accounting for 70.4% of the total pipeline length. Full article

Large scale production of water-intensive industrial products can intensify water scarcity, resulting in potential unsustainable water use at local and regional scales. This study proposes a methodological framework for assessing the WF sustainability of multiple interdependent products in a system, and one of China’s four major large modern coal chemical industry bases is used as a case study. A Mixed-Unit Input-Output (MUIO) model was applied to calculate the blue water footprint (WF) for 19 major coal-based energy and chemicals in the study area, based on which the WF sustainability of production of the products were assessed using different indicators. Technical coefficient matrix and direct water consumption vector of the products were constructed based a database that were built by field research in the study area. Accounting result indicates that the blue WF of the coal-based products range from 2.5 × 10⁻⁴ m³/kWh for coal-fired power to 55.25 m³/t for Polytetrahydrofuran. The sustainability assessment reveals that the blue WF of all products produced in the study area are sustainable at both product and regional levels, while over half of them have reached the advanced level. However, the blue WF of a few products with large production capacities has just crossed the sustainable thresholds, posing potential threat to the local environment. This paper concludes with a discussion on the choice of blue WF accounting approach, methods to promote WF sustainability of coal-based products, and suggestions for the WF management in general. Full article

Energy consumption places growing demands on modern lifestyles, which have direct impacts on the world’s natural environment. To attain the levels of sustainability required to avoid further consequences of changes in the climate, alternatives for sustainable production not only of energy but also materials and chemicals must be pursued. In this respect, syngas fermentation has recently attracted much attention, particularly from industries responsible for high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Syngas can be obtained by thermochemical conversion of biomass, animal waste, coal, municipal solid wastes and other carbonaceous materials, and its composition depends on biomass properties and gasification conditions. It is defined as a gaseous mixture of CO and H₂ but, depending on those parameters, it can also contain CO₂, CH₄ and secondary components, such as tar, oxygen and nitrogenous compounds. Even so, raw syngas can be used by anaerobic bacteria to produce biofuels (ethanol, butanol, etc.) and biochemicals (acetic acid, butyric acid, etc.). This review updates recent work on the influence of biomass properties and gasification parameters on syngas composition and details the influence of these secondary components and CO/H₂ molar ratio on microbial metabolism and product formation. Moreover, the main challenges, opportunities and current developments in syngas fermentation are highlighted in this review. Full article