Wenjia Xu

Senior Engineer

CNPC Research Institute of Safety & Environment Technology

Xu Wenjia graduated from Peking University with a major in Environmental Science. She currently works at the CNPC Research Institute of Safety & Environment Technology in Beijing, China. Since 2010, she has been engaged in scientific research on greenhouse gas emission accounting, carbon footprint, carbon assets, low-carbon technology assessment, and methane monitoring etc. She has participated in China's national key basic research development programs (973 program), national oil and gas major projects, and major consulting projects of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. She has won eight provincial and ministerial awards, and published nineteen academic papers.

Participates in

TECHNICAL PROGRAMME | Energy Technologies

Advancing the Circular Economy & Value of Life Cycle Analyses
Forum 22 | Digital Poster Plaza 4
29
April
14:00 16:00
UTC+3
With the rapid development of renewable energy and electric vehicles, traditional refining companies will face a significant impact. In 2023, China's refined oil consumption peaked, with the terminal consumption of refined oil reaching 400 million tons in 2024, a year-on-year decrease of 1.9%. The decline in refined oil demand and the addition of new production capacity have put refineries under tremendous pressure to transform. This paper explores pathways for refinery transformation by analyzing the carbon footprint of refining products. The carbon footprint of gasoline, diesel, and similar products refers to the total carbon emissions generated across their entire lifecycle, including crude oil extraction, refining, transportation, and end-use combustion. By collecting data on raw/auxiliary material consumption and energy usage in refineries, this study calculates the carbon footprint of gasoline and diesel in a typical refinery.The system boundary of this study is "from cradle to gate," divided into three stages according to the life cycle: raw material acquisition, production processing, and waste disposal. The analysis revealed that the most significant factor influencing the carbon footprint of petroleum refining products is the raw material acquisition stage (i.e., the carbon footprint of crude oil), accounting for over 50% of total emissions. This is followed by the production and processing stage (45%), while waste disposal contributes only 1%. Within the production and processing stage, primary energy sources such as natural gas account for 20%, secondary energy sources (e.g., electricity and steam) contribute 17%, and raw/auxiliary materials make up 10%. Based on this, the design of low-carbon petroleum refining products mainly focuses on the following aspects: First, reducing the use of fossil fuels, optimizing energy saving, increasing electrification rates, and using renewable energy electricity; second, increasing the use of recycled materials, such as water recycling and the recycling of catalysts and other auxiliaries. Notable practices in China include tiered utilization of wastewater to reduce freshwater consumption and recycling of spent catalysts to lower demand for new catalyst materials. These measures demonstrate practical pathways for refineries to align with low-carbon goals.

Co-author/s:

Wei Fan, Senior Engineer, CNPC Research Institute of Safety& Environment Technology.

Xu Zhang, Senior Engineer, CNPC Research Institute of Safety& Environment Technology.
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