What does net zero emissions mean for the chemical industry?

英国已经制定了到2050年实现温室气体净零排放的目标。就工业部门而言，由于化工厂等基础设施的平均寿命为20年或更长，因此必须在今后10年内制定具体计划。该博士正在研究净零目标对合成喷气燃料和合成高价值化学品竞争力的影响。由于基础设施的固有性质，飞机将继续依赖高密度液体燃料（由于能量密度低，它们无法携带现有的电池或氢气）。该项目由约翰逊Matthey共同资助，他们开发了一种通过费托工艺生产生物喷气燃料的城市废物液化（WTL）工艺。为了从化学和工艺工程的角度获得低碳制造的专业知识，将评估WTL工厂对航空业脱碳的潜力。将采用两种广泛的建模方法研究低碳化工厂的经济可行性（私人价值）和社会效益（在整个经济背景下）。为了确定和量化作为监管环境的一个功能的现实的成本降低潜力，经济可行性评估将包括税收和补贴（例如废物处理费，如果废物是原料）。社会效益将使用英国时代能源系统模型进行研究。UK TIMES是一个线性优化和技术导向的模型，可以代表整个英国的能源系统。

The UK has enacted a net-zero greenhouse gas emission target by 2050. In the context of the industry sector, due to infrastructures such as chemical plants averaging life times of 20 years or more, a concrete plan must be in place in the next 10 years. This PhD is examining the implications of the net zero target for the competitiveness of synthetic jet fuel and synthetic high-value chemicals. Aeroplanes will continue to rely on high density liquid fuels due to the intrinsic nature of infrastructures (they cannot carry existing batteries or hydrogen due to their low energy density). The project is co-funded by Johnson Matthey, who have developed a municipal waste-to-liquids (WTL) process that produce bio-jet fuel via the Fischer-Tropsch process. To gain expertise in low-carbon manufacturing from the perspective of chemical and process engineering, the potential of the WTL plant to decarbonise the aviation industry will be evaluated. The economic viability (private values) and social benefits (in context of the whole economy) of low carbon chemical plants will be studied, employing two broad approaches to modelling. In order to identify and quantify realistic cost reduction potentials as a function of the regulatory environment, the economic viability assessment will include taxes and subsidies (e.g. waste disposal fees, where waste is a feedstock). The social benefits will be examined using the UK TIMES energy system model. UK TIMES is a linear optimization and technology-oriented model that can represent the entirety of the UK's energy systems.