Hydrocarbon Processing - September 2022 - 120

History of the HPI
able.258
Following the Paris Agreement,
FIG. 1. The Paris Agreement was adopted at the UN Climate Change Conference (referred to
as COP21) in Paris, France in 2015. From left to right: Christiana Figueres, Former Executive
Director of UNFCCC; Ban Ki-moon, Former Secretary-General; Laurent Fabius, Former Foreign
Minister of France and President of the UN Climate Change Conference; François Hollande,
Former President of France. Photo courtesy of the United Nations.
laws within the chemical industry: EC
1907/2006. The EU regulation-known
as the registration, evaluation, authorization
and
restriction
of chemicals
(REACH)-was put in place to protect
human health and the environment from
the risks posed by chemicals, as well as
promote
alternative methods
for
the
hazard assessment of substances to reduce
the number of tests on animals.252
The regulation also created the European
Chemicals Agency (ECHA), which manages
the technical and administrative aspects
of REACH.
Companies that manufacture chemicals
in the EU or import chemicals into
the region of at least 1 tpy must register the
chemical(s) with the ECHA.253
According
to the agency, REACH applies to all chemical
substances, whether they are used in
industrial processes or in the daily lives of
European citizens (e.g., cleaning supplies).
Companies must identify and manage the
risks linked to their chemicals manufactured
or used within the EU. If risks cannot
be managed, authorities can restrict
the use of substances within the region.252
At the time of this publication, the
ECHA has collected more than 23,000
valid REACH registrations from nearly
16,100 companies.254
The Paris Agreement, ensuing environmental
regulations and the movement
to net-zero. Over the past 30 yr,
many nations have enacted new regulations
and initiatives to limit carbon emissions.
One of the first major global initiatives to
limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
was the Kyoto Protocol established by the
UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change. Adopted in late 1997, the treaty's
primary goal was to limit GHG emissions-carbon
dioxide, methane, nitrous
oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons,
sulfur hexafluoride and nitrogen trifluoride-in
37 industrialized countries,
economies in transition and the EU.255, 256
The protocol comprised two commitment
periods. The first commitment
period (2008-2012) called for participating
countries to reduce emissions by 5%
vs. 1990 levels. The Doha Amendment
to the Kyoto Protocol in 2012 ushered in
the second commitment period (2013-
2020)-the amendment was signed at the
18th Conference of the Parties (COP18)
in Doha, Qatar. Within this period, the
participating countries committed to reduce
GHG emissions by at least 18% vs.
1990 levels.255
The Kyoto Protocol was a precursor to
the Paris Agreement. Adopted in 2015-
and entered into force in late 2016-at
the UN Climate Change Conference (referred
to as COP21) in Paris, France, the
Paris Agreement called for nations around
the world to curb emissions to limit global
warming to 1.5°C vs. pre-industrial levels
(FIG. 1).257
This agreement would usher
in a new era of environmental awareness
in energy production as countries and
industry strived for net-zero economies
and operations. At the time of this publication,
more than 190 parties have signed
the treaty to join the Paris Agreement.257
To adhere to provisions within the
Paris Agreement, several countries are
dramatically transforming domestic energy
generation capabilities and looking
to zero-carbon pathways to power their
economies. The EU has been a champion
for reduced emissions. Prior to the Paris
Agreement, the EU had already enacted
the Renewable Energy Directive (RED)
in 2009, which required that 20% of the
energy consumed in the EU be renew120
SEPTEMBER 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
the EU revised the RED initiative by increasing
required renewables usage in the
bloc to 32% by 2030-this initiative was
called RED 2. The European Commission
(EC) proposed a revision to RED 2 in July
2021 that called for increasing renewable
requirements to 40% by 2030. Within
the EC's REPowerEU plan published
in May 2022, renewable requirements
could reach as high as 45% by 2030-the
REPowerEU initiative calls for the EU to
completely wean off the use of Russian
natural gas supplies, a direct effect of Russia's
invasion of Ukraine in 2022.259
The increased usage of renewables
stems from the EU's Green New Deal. Approved
in 2020, the ambitious initiative's
goal is to make Europe the first climateneutral
continent by 2050. The policies
put forth in the Green New Deal call for
the reduction of net GHG emissions by
at least 55% by 2030 vs. 1990 levels-the
initiative is expected to cost more than
€1 T.260,261
Several of the policies put forth
in the Green New Deal include decarbonizing
the mobility sector (e.g., starting in
2035, only zero carbon dioxide-emitting
new cars can be sold in the EU);262
building
a hydrogen economy for net-zero
power generation; using alternative fuels
to power shipping, rail and mass transit;
and incorporating a significant amount of
renewables capacity in the region.
The Paris Agreement has also inspired
many other nations to invest in reducing
carbon emissions within their economies.
These initiatives include the use of renewable
fuels; an increase in the production/
blending rates of biofuels; utilizing lowcarbon-emitting
fuels in the marine sector
(e.g., the International Maritime Organization's
Global Sulfur Cap regulation was
enacted in January 2020, which required
marine vessels to reduce sulfur content
of their fuels from 3.5% to 0.5%-the
regulation affected more than 50,000
ships worldwide); an increased adoption
of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles; a
shift to a hydrogen-economy; and capitalintensive
investments in carbon capture
and storage and carbon capture, storage
and utilization projects; among others.
Capacity acceleration: Rise of the
East, Middle East diversification
and U.S. shale. Over the past 30 yr, HPI
capacity additions have significantly increased
in Asia, the Middle East and the

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