China’s largest oil and petrochemical products supplier China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec, has launched the country’s very first megaton-scale carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) project. The project is expected to be put into utilization by the end of this year and it is set to be the largest demonstration base for industrial CCUS in China.
The aim of the project dubbed the Sinopec Qilu-Shengli Oilfield CCU is also to promote the development of other large-scale CCUS facilities in the country.
Relevant: Can China Double Carbon Capture Capacity By 2025?
Furthermore, the launch of the project is a major step towards reducing China’s CO2 emissions and building a so-called artificial carbon cycle model, which is significant as China is expected to its peak carbon emissions by 2030. And then carbon neutrality is set to be achieved by the year 2060.
The megaton carbon capture project is expected to absorb around 1 million tons of CO2 per annum, which is the amount produced by 600,000 cars or the same amount captured by 9 million trees, and it consists of two parts.
One is the Sinopec Qilu’s CO2 capture and the other is the Shengli Oilfield’s CO2 displacement and storage. The former captures greenhouse gas emissions and delivers them to the latter, where they are further transported and stored deep underground.
Sinopec has also announced its aim to build another megaton-scale project just like this one within the next 5 years.
China recently launched its CO2 emissions trading scheme and is also set and also announced a partnership with Canada to accelerate carbon capture adoption.
The country announced its roadmap for carbon capture and storage back in 2015 but its deployment has been slow and not up to speed with the rapid proliferation of coal plants financed by China. Over 300 plants across the world were reported to have some of Chinese financing in 2019.
