towards a better future while also meeting the energy needs of the world? The answer does not come from technology billionaires or any magic recipe; it can only be provided by an effective combination of technology, finance, environmental regulations, and supportive taxation policies. In line with population growth and industrialisation, the global carbon footprint has been steadily increasing for centuries, but with a major increase over the last decades. Several countries and regions are responsible for most of the global emissions (see Figure 1 ): • Emissions continue growing. Even in 2022, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions primarily consisted of CO 2 resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels (71.6%), with CH 4 contributing 21% to the total. • Former low social development countries continue to increase their emissions as they strive for economic growth. • China, the US, India, the EU27, Russia, and Brazil were the six largest GHG emitters in 2022. Together, they accounted for 50.1% of the global population, 61.2% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 63.4% of global fossil fuel consumption, and 61.6% of global GHG emissions. • Only three countries account for 53% of total CO 2 emissions and have not pledged to the UNFCC agreements. • As part of the COP process, countries have submitted Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), which are commitments
to reduce emissions. The IEA in its scenarios has estimated the impact of these current commitments and compared this with a scenario based on what is needed to reach net zero by 2050 (IEA, 2021). In summary, the sum of the NDCs is insufficient to limit emissions and meet the agreed target, meaning all countries must increase their ambition. • In the IEA Net Zero Emissions scenario, all countries pledge to achieve net zero, and global warming will reach a maximum of +2ºC by 2050 (IEA, 2021). The current situation poses a real problem requiring an international and coordinated effort. However, the necessary conditions and regulations must be in place to drive progress and encourage the investment needed to deliver the desired net zero by the 2050 target. Case study: Hybrid solution for standard European refinery Fuels used in the transport sector account for 24% of total CO 2 emissions, including aviation at 2% (13.9% of total transportation emissions) (see Figure 2 ). The emissions are produced in two phases: the fuel production phase and the combustion phase, when the fuel is used to power road and marine engines and airplane turbines. Emissions during the production phase can be effectively reduced by a combination of operational improvements in the refineries and changes in feedstocks. However, a smart approach is needed, as the recommended solutions require modifications in the refinery configurations and big investments. The suggested solutions presented can be defined as a hybrid configuration for a fuels production centre prepared for the transition towards net zero objectives. The configuration defines a feasible fuels production scheme with a consequential reduction in CO 2 emissions. Present situation The present situation, or base case, considers a standard European refinery with a 100,000 barrels per day (BBL) processing capacity, with high conversion and bottom-of-the-barrel configuration, as well as state-of-the-art energy efficiency and emissions control systems (see Table 1 )
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0
Power
Industry
Transport
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Figure 2 IEA report Global CO 2 emissions by sector, 2019-2022
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