Page 132 - CW E-Magazine (22-4-2025)

Point of View

company, with the aim of deploying the latter’s small modular reactors (SMRs) that use a novel uranium-based fuel and are inherently safe,
at one of its sites.

There is an excellent fit between the nuclear and the petrochemical industries – in the supply and demand for thermal power and
electricity with high reliability – and, if the effort is successful, it could be a harbinger of more. But the regulatory clearances required means
commercial deployment is still some time away.

SMR technology has also caught the fancy of the Indian government, and a concerted programme has now been launched to develop
indigenous capabilities in this promising area.

Green hydrogen
Aside the use of wind and solar energy, the use of ‘green’ hydrogen is also a recurring feature amongst decarbonisation efforts. In contrast
to conventional (‘grey’) hydrogen, which comes from fossil fuels (mainly natural gas), ‘green’ hydrogen is produced by electrolytic splitting
of water, with the electricity coming from renewable sources. Several projects – many in collaborative networks with companies having
complementary skills – are in the works and the technology is on the cusp of deployment at industry-relevant scale.
Many sectors such as iron ore & steel, fertilisers, refining, methanol and maritime shipping emit major amounts of CO , and carbon-free
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hydrogen will play a critical role in enabling their deep decarbonisation.

CCU and CCS
CCU projects are gaining some traction as well. Covestro, for example, makes a polyurethane foam component (a polyol) using CO as
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a feedstock on industrial scale, and recently showcased the first CO -based surfactants with good washing and biodegradation properties.
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CCS is also beginning to be deployed at scale, but its use is limited by the need for nearby underground reservoirs or depleted oil & gas wells
into which CO can be pumped and locked away for good.
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Electrification of processes
At a more fundamental level are several efforts to electrify chemical processes, the most significant of which are those targeting ethylene
production by steam cracking, which currently relies on thermal energy obtained from burning fossil fuels.

While an electrified cracker has no meaningful CO emissions (provided the power source is renewable) on a continuous basis (some
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intermittent emissions occur), the power requirements are sizeable – upwards of 900-MW for a large size ethylene plant – enough to power
up a medium-sized city.

There are several cracker electrification efforts ongoing – all in partnerships, given the complexity of the task – and stakeholders are
confident of success. If scale-up happens as expected, this will represent a significant advance in the manufacture of a basic petrochemical
feedstock and lay the platform for a range of ‘greener’ petrochemicals. But large-scale deployment is unlikely till well into the next decade.
Lots of challenges
As pressure mounts on industries to reduce carbon emissions, governments and companies are betting on several options. While some
of the technologies being deployed have matured and are on the path of commercialisation with falling prices (think solar and wind), others
(such as ‘green’ hydrogen) still face uncertainties as regards capital costs and competitiveness. But with timelines for decarbonisation beyond
2030, there is some – though not a lot – of time to learn from experimental and pilot decarbonisation projects.

Whatever the pathways, it is evident that decarbonisationwill neither be easy nor cheap. There is little consensus on what this will require
in terms of capital expenditure with estimates for the global petrochemical industry varying from a low of $750-billion (BloombergNEF),
to a high of $2-trillion (McKinsey & Co)through to 2050. Some studies also suggest decarbonising ammonia manufacture alone will need
about $1-trillion!

With higher costs, the resulting decarbonised products would have to sell at a premium to conventional material – perhaps a considerable
one early on – or be supported by government incentives, or both.
Any which way, policy and fiscal supports from governments will be key in enabling this hard, but important, transition.
Ravi Raghavan

132 Chemical Weekly April 22, 2025

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