China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) is currently developing a megaton carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), dubbed Sinopec Qilu-Shengli Oilfield, a project in China the first in the country.
The project will enhance China’s carbon emissions reduction capabilities and build an “artificial carbon cycle” model as the country advances to reach peak carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.
The development will utilize Sinopec Qilu’s carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and Shengli Oilfield’s CO2 displacement and storage. Sinopec Qilu captures the CO2 and transports it to the Shengli Oilfield for further removal and storage, achieving an integrated application of carbon capture, displacement to seal the CO2 underground.
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Zhang Yuzhuo, Chairman of Sinopec, Commenting on the development, said, “According to IEA, CCUS will contribute about 14% of CO2 emissions reduction by 2050, and the market application prospects are very promising. Developing CCUS is a trend as well as a mission.”
Sinopec is starting the construction of China's first million-ton-level #CCUS project in Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical Company's Shengli Oilfield, with technologies including carbon capture, utilization and storage. https://t.co/O7TFOoHdgI pic.twitter.com/BCPIO2zTBS
— Sinopec (@SinopecNews) July 5, 2021
“Sinopec will research and establish a CCUS R&D center to advance a series of core technologies and bottleneck problems throughout the links of carbon capturing, transportation, utilization, and storage, as well as a CO2 utilization technology innovation system of ‘technological development-project demonstration-industrialization,’ extending the clean carbon sequestration industry chain and creating an innovative hub for carbon emissions reduction technologies.”
To realize industrialized CCUS development and widen further prospects as China advances to achieve peak carbon and carbon neutrality, the company plans do not stop here. Sinopec said it hopes to build another megaton CCUS demonstration base in the next five years.
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Ever since the US abandoned the Paris Agreement under the Trump Administration, China has slowly replaced it as the global leader in the fight against global warming. This step not helps improve China’s soft image worldwide; it sets up a commendable example for other nations to follow upon.