Sustainability footprints of a renewable carbon transition for the petrochemical sector within planetary boundaries

The petrochemical sector will play a crucial role in developing low-carbon transition technologies, but the industry also contributes a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. Momentum is building to help reduce the carbon footprint of this hard-to-abate sector, particularly through repl...

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Authors: Galán-Martín, Ángel, Tulus , Victor, Díaz, Ismael, Pozo, Carlos, Pérez-Ramírez , Javier, Guillén-Gosalbez, Gonzalo
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2021
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Jaén
Repository:RUJA. Repositorio Institucional de la Producción Científica de la Universidad de Jaén
OAI Identifier:oai:ruja.ujaen.es:10953/7330
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10953/7330
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:absolute sustainability assessment
biomass
carbon capture and utilization
chemical industry
green methanol
planetary boundaries
renewable carbon
sustainability footprints
Climate Change
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spelling Sustainability footprints of a renewable carbon transition for the petrochemical sector within planetary boundariesGalán-Martín, ÁngelTulus , VictorDíaz, IsmaelPozo, CarlosPérez-Ramírez , JavierGuillén-Gosalbez, Gonzaloabsolute sustainability assessmentbiomasscarbon capture and utilizationchemical industrygreen methanolplanetary boundariesrenewable carbonsustainability footprintsClimate ChangeThe petrochemical sector will play a crucial role in developing low-carbon transition technologies, but the industry also contributes a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. Momentum is building to help reduce the carbon footprint of this hard-to-abate sector, particularly through replacing fossil carbon feedstocks with carbon from biomass, captured CO2, and other recycled resources, but the broader implications of these so-called “solutions” remain unclear. Here, we assess the overall sustainability of such “renewable carbon pathways” by quantifying their life-cycle environmental footprints with respect to the previously defined nine planetary boundaries. We show that although a shift toward renewable carbon pathways could indeed reduce CO2 emissions by 25% to over 100%, the scenario with the lowest carbon footprint could exceed the biodiversity planetary boundary by at least 30%. Our work highlights the potential pitfalls of overlooking global environmental guardrails beyond greenhouse gas emissions reduction and identifies new avenues for quantifying the environmental footprint of decarbonization solutions for hard-to-abate sectors.This publication was created as part of NCCR Catalysis, a National Centre of Competence in Research funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.Cell Press202620262021info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/10953/7330reponame:RUJA. Repositorio Institucional de la Producción Científica de la Universidad de Jaéninstname:Universidad de JaénInglésOne Earthinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:ruja.ujaen.es:10953/73302026-06-24T12:41:07Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Sustainability footprints of a renewable carbon transition for the petrochemical sector within planetary boundaries
title Sustainability footprints of a renewable carbon transition for the petrochemical sector within planetary boundaries
spellingShingle Sustainability footprints of a renewable carbon transition for the petrochemical sector within planetary boundaries
Galán-Martín, Ángel
absolute sustainability assessment
biomass
carbon capture and utilization
chemical industry
green methanol
planetary boundaries
renewable carbon
sustainability footprints
Climate Change
title_short Sustainability footprints of a renewable carbon transition for the petrochemical sector within planetary boundaries
title_full Sustainability footprints of a renewable carbon transition for the petrochemical sector within planetary boundaries
title_fullStr Sustainability footprints of a renewable carbon transition for the petrochemical sector within planetary boundaries
title_full_unstemmed Sustainability footprints of a renewable carbon transition for the petrochemical sector within planetary boundaries
title_sort Sustainability footprints of a renewable carbon transition for the petrochemical sector within planetary boundaries
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Galán-Martín, Ángel
Tulus , Victor
Díaz, Ismael
Pozo, Carlos
Pérez-Ramírez , Javier
Guillén-Gosalbez, Gonzalo
author Galán-Martín, Ángel
author_facet Galán-Martín, Ángel
Tulus , Victor
Díaz, Ismael
Pozo, Carlos
Pérez-Ramírez , Javier
Guillén-Gosalbez, Gonzalo
author_role author
author2 Tulus , Victor
Díaz, Ismael
Pozo, Carlos
Pérez-Ramírez , Javier
Guillén-Gosalbez, Gonzalo
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv absolute sustainability assessment
biomass
carbon capture and utilization
chemical industry
green methanol
planetary boundaries
renewable carbon
sustainability footprints
Climate Change
topic absolute sustainability assessment
biomass
carbon capture and utilization
chemical industry
green methanol
planetary boundaries
renewable carbon
sustainability footprints
Climate Change
description The petrochemical sector will play a crucial role in developing low-carbon transition technologies, but the industry also contributes a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. Momentum is building to help reduce the carbon footprint of this hard-to-abate sector, particularly through replacing fossil carbon feedstocks with carbon from biomass, captured CO2, and other recycled resources, but the broader implications of these so-called “solutions” remain unclear. Here, we assess the overall sustainability of such “renewable carbon pathways” by quantifying their life-cycle environmental footprints with respect to the previously defined nine planetary boundaries. We show that although a shift toward renewable carbon pathways could indeed reduce CO2 emissions by 25% to over 100%, the scenario with the lowest carbon footprint could exceed the biodiversity planetary boundary by at least 30%. Our work highlights the potential pitfalls of overlooking global environmental guardrails beyond greenhouse gas emissions reduction and identifies new avenues for quantifying the environmental footprint of decarbonization solutions for hard-to-abate sectors.
publishDate 2021
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2021
2026
2026
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/10953/7330
url https://hdl.handle.net/10953/7330
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv One Earth
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Cell Press
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Cell Press
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:RUJA. Repositorio Institucional de la Producción Científica de la Universidad de Jaén
instname:Universidad de Jaén
instname_str Universidad de Jaén
reponame_str RUJA. Repositorio Institucional de la Producción Científica de la Universidad de Jaén
collection RUJA. Repositorio Institucional de la Producción Científica de la Universidad de Jaén
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
_version_ 1869411088592797696
score 15.811543

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