Sustainability footprints of a renewable carbon transition for the petrochemical sector within planetary boundaries
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Date
2021-04-23
Publication Type
Journal Article
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Abstract
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.
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published
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Journal / series
Volume
4 (4)
Pages / Article No.
565 - 583
Publisher
Cell Press
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09655 - Guillén Gosálbez, Gonzalo / Guillén Gosálbez, Gonzalo
03871 - Pérez-Ramírez, Javier / Pérez-Ramírez, Javier