Petrochemical Industry for the Future

Petroleum has played a vital role as the major supplier of materials and energy during the evolution of human civilization. Given the change in demand for energy from high to low carbon and ultimately net zero carbon, the energy framework has undergone revolutionary changes. The energy attribute of petroleum will be gradually weakened, while the material and CO2 emission attributes will be gradually strengthened. Thus, the petrochemical processing basis, scientific concepts, and ideas will undergo major adjustments to reshape the petrochemical industry. Hence, it is necessary to reconsider the evolution of the petrochemical industry from a historical perspective and to clarify the historical causes, development contexts, and possible challenges in future development. Herein, we critically reassess the key drivers and rules guiding the development of the petrochemical industry and propose a reconstruction strategy based on simplified engineering thinking, innate nature of energy and material, and CO2 emissions, which can be realized through the integration of gasification with CO as the target product and recent C1 chemistry targeting the precise synthesis of chemicals. The concept of the petrochemical industry will change from the product-based process of selection and transformation of raw material molecules to the process of carbon atom reconfiguration driven by product CO2 emissions. More accurate management of C atoms can be accomplished with greatly improved utilization efficiency and the reduction of separation intensity and CO2 emissions via the stepwise introduction of a new approach in the current petrochemical industry.