Jing Huo

Last Name

Huo

First Name

Jing

ORCID

0000-0003-2079-0591

Organisational unit

03732 - Hellweg, Stefanie / Hellweg, Stefanie

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Publications 1 - 7 of 7

Net-zero transition of the global chemical industry with CO2-feedstock by 2050: feasible yet challenging
Huo, Jing; Wang, Zhanyun; Oberschelp, Christopher; et al. (2023)
Green Chemistry
Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) have been projected by the power and industrial sectors to play a vital role towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, we aim to explore the feasibility of a global chemical industry that fully relies on CO2 as its carbon source in 2050. We project the global annual CO2 demand as chemical feedstock to be 2.2-3.1 gigatonnes (Gt), well within the possible range of supply (5.2-13.9 Gt) from the power, cement, steel, and kraft pulp sectors. Hence, feedstock availability is not a constraint factor for the transition towards a fully CO2-based chemical industry on the global basis, with the exception of few regions that could face local supply shortages, such as the Middle East. We further conduct life cycle assessment to examine the environmental benefits on climate change and the trade-offs of particulate matter-related health impacts induced by carbon capture. We conclude that CO2 captured from solid biomass-fired power plants and kraft pulp mills in Europe would have the least environmental and health impacts, and that India and China should prioritize low-impact regional electricity supply before a large-scale deployment of CCUS. Finally, two bottom-up case studies of China and the Middle East illustrate how the total regional environmental and health impacts from carbon capture can be minimized by optimizing its supply sources and transport, requiring cross-sectoral cooperation and early planning of infrastructure. Overall, capture and utilization of unabatable industrial waste CO2 as chemical feedstock can be a feasible way for the net-zero transition of the industry, while concerted efforts are yet needed to build up the carbon-capture-and-utilization value chain around the world.
Region-Specific Sourcing of Lignocellulose Residues as Renewable Feedstocks for a Net-Zero Chemical Industry
Huo, Jing; Wang, Zhanyun; Lauri, Pekka; et al. (2024)
Environmental Science & Technology
Biobased chemicals, crucial for the net-zero chemical industry, rely on lignocellulose residues as a major feedstock. However, its availability and environmental impacts vary greatly across regions. By 2050, we estimate that 3.0-5.2 Gt of these residues will be available from the global forest and agricultural sectors, with key contributions from Brazil, China, India, and the United States. This supply satisfies the growing global feedstock demands for plastics when used efficiently. Forest residues have 84% lower climate change impacts than agricultural residues on average globally but double the land-use-related biodiversity loss. Biobased plastics may reduce climate change impacts relative to fossil-based alternatives but are insufficient to fulfill net-zero targets. In addition, they pose greater challenges in terms of biodiversity loss and water stress. Avoiding feedstock sourcing from biodiversity-rich areas could halve lignocellulose residues-related biodiversity loss without significantly compromising availability. Improvements in region-specific feedstock sourcing, agricultural management and biomass utilization technologies are warranted for transitioning toward a sustainable chemical industry.
Availability and environmental impacts of alternative feedstocks for global plastic industry transition
Huo, Jing (2024)
Prospective climate change impacts of Swiss forest management and wood utilization strategies by integrating biogenic carbon dynamics
Huo, Jing; Stadelmann , Golo; Burg, Vanessa; et al. (2026)
Resources, Conservation and Recycling
Forests and wood products play crucial roles in climate change mitigation, yet their climate impacts remain poorly understood. We couple empirical Swiss forest development models with dynamic life cycle assessment to evaluate climate impacts of two forest management scenarios (reference and increased harvest) and four wood utilization scenarios (business-as-usual, increased material use, extended lifetime, and chemical substitution) in Switzerland from 2014 to 2113. Results reveal that increased harvest leads to higher climate impacts compared to the reference management practices under empirical modeling, contradicting simplified regrowth model conclusions favoring increased harvest. The contrasting results underscore uncertainty in forest carbon projections, warning against simplified carbon-neutrality assumptions of biogenic CO2 emissions. Increased wood use for construction applications and extended product lifetimes demonstrate climate benefits, while diverting wood from energy to chemical production increases emissions. We emphasize the necessity of improved forest carbon modeling for informed climate mitigation strategies and recommend prioritizing long-lived wood construction applications.
Urban source term estimation for mercury using a boundary-layer budget method
Denzler, Basil; Bogdal, Christian; Kern, Cyrill; et al. (2019)
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Mercury is a heavy metal of particular concern due to its adverse effects on human health and the environment. Recognizing this problem, the UN Minamata Convention on Mercury was recently adopted, where signatory countries agreed to reduce anthropogenic mercury emissions. To evaluate the effectiveness of the convention, quantitative knowledge on mercury emissions is crucial. So far, bottom-up approaches have successfully been applied to quantify mercury emission – especially for point sources. Distributed sources make up a large share of the emission; however, they are still poorly characterized. Here, we present a top-down approach to estimate mercury emissions based on atmospheric measurements in the city of Zurich, Switzerland. While monitoring the atmospheric mercury concentrations during inversion periods in Zurich, we were able to relate the concentration increase to the mercury emission strength of the city using a box model. By means of this boundary-layer budget approach, we succeeded in narrowing down the emissions of Zurich to range between 41±8 kg a−1 (upper bound) and 24±8 kg a−1 (lower bound). Thereby, we could quantify emissions from mixed, diffuse and point-like sources and derive an annual mercury per capita emission of 0.06 to 0.10 g a−1. The approach presented here has the potential to support authorities in setting up inventories and to validate emission estimations derived from the commonly applied bottom-up approaches. Furthermore, our method is applicable to other compounds and to a wide range of cities or other areas, where sources or sinks for mercury and other atmospheric pollutants are presumed.
Assessing decarbonization strategies and industrial symbiosis in the chemical and waste-to-energy sector
Schnyder, Maria; Huo, Jing; Hellweg, Stefanie (2025)
Journal of Industrial Ecology
Swiss waste-to-energy (WtE) plants are required to capture their CO2 emissions by 2050 to meet the net-zero climate target, with options for underground storage (carbon capture and storage [CCS]) or utilization (carbon capture and utilization [CCU]). This opens up a synergistic opportunity for the petrochemical industry to utilize the captured CO2 as a feedstock, potentially helping both sectors reduce their carbon footprints. We conducted a prospective carbon footprint analysis on various net-zero strategies within the Swiss WtE plants (CCU and CCS) and German ethylene production (CO2-based ethylene, bio-ethylene, and fossil ethylene with CCS), including scenarios of industrial symbiosis. While focusing on these two countries, the findings offer valuable insights applicable to similar sectors in other regions. All assessed pathways reduce the carbon footprint by at least 60% relative to the reference scenario (no carbon capture in WtE plants and fossil ethylene production). Bio-ethylene and direct air capture-based ethylene combined with CCS in WtE exhibit the lowest climate change impacts, achieving net negative emissions when powered by renewable electricity. However, these pathways all come with trade-offs: The availability of sustainable biomass and low-carbon electricity is limited, and future resource competition may delimit the penetration of these technology combinations. CCS in ethylene production plants could reduce emissions while utilizing existing infrastructure but does not eliminate emissions from fossil fuel extraction. Ethylene produced with CO2 from WtE plants could be a viable interim solution until CCS barriers are overcome.
Global Plastic Industry Transition Addressing Key Drivers of the Triple Planetary Crisis
Huo, Jing; Wang, Zhanyun; Oberschelp, Christopher; et al. (2025)
Environmental Science & Technology
The sustainable transition of the plastic industry-shifting from its fossil reliance and linear produce-use-dispose model-is imperative to minimize its contribution to the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. While previous studies assessed transition strategies in isolation, focused mainly on climate impacts, and neglected regional differences, our integrated model assesses transition strategies, globally and regionally, addressing the potential co-benefits and trade-offs across several key drivers of the triple planetary crisis. We note that other important impacts, such as microplastic leakage, remain to be quantified. Achieving a net-zero plastic industry by 2050 (1 Gt annual production) is technically feasible through lignocellulose residue-based feedstocks, recycling, and carbon capture. Meanwhile, this would require consuming all available global lignocellulose residues (2.3 Gt), early retirement of fossil infrastructure to avoid at least 0.35 Gt CO₂-eq emissions, and ensuring grid decarbonization, presenting great challenges. Without internationally coordinated relocation of plastic production facilities or trade of biomass feedstocks or the derived intermediate chemicals, global net zero becomes unattainable. The global climate benefits through the transition come with trade-offs in higher land-use-related biodiversity loss and particulate matter-related health impacts, especially in regions with vulnerable ecosystems and dense populations, necessitating tailored regional solutions. Reducing primary plastics production could ease the transition, but unsustainable material substitutes need to be avoided.

Publications 1 - 7 of 7

Jing Huo

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