Re: China poised to become the world’s largest net oil impor
Posted: Wed 28 Aug 2013, 09:55:00
Perhaps a bit lower oil imports eventually. Classic good news/bad news: China may reduce its future coal burning. Bad news: it will significantly increase the amount of NG it burns.
“China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) has received approval for a mega project to turn coal into natural gas. Fu Chengyu, the chairman of the nation's second-largest oil and gas producer and the world's second-biggest crude oil refiner, said the project had received "all necessary government approvals", but the budget was not known. The project involves the construction of an 8,000-kilometre main gas pipeline. Five branch pipelines will also be built.
Coal gasification subjects coal to high heat and pressure to turn it into gases, which are processed into natural gas and other by-products. The total cost of the pipeline would exceed 100 billion yuan (HK$126 billion), Fu said, adding Sinopec would lead the project and be responsible for investing in 8 billion cubic metres of annual gas production and transmission capacity. Total capacity will be 30 billion to 36 billion cubic metres.
A research report warned of risks that higher carbon-dioxide emission costs in the future would cut returns. It said the mainland would see a five to seven-year boom in coal-gasification projects construction, as Beijing has approved a large number of such projects that are projected to see gas output rise from 0.3 bcm this year to 55 bcm in 2020.
While there have been proposals to capture carbon dioxide to be emitted, use it and store it underground, analysts at UBS said: "We do not believe any of the proposals are sufficient to handle the scale of carbon dioxide that may be ultimately discharged by the new coal-to-gas and coal-to-chemicals projects."
So much better than burning more coal but still represents a huge increase in GHG emissions.
“China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) has received approval for a mega project to turn coal into natural gas. Fu Chengyu, the chairman of the nation's second-largest oil and gas producer and the world's second-biggest crude oil refiner, said the project had received "all necessary government approvals", but the budget was not known. The project involves the construction of an 8,000-kilometre main gas pipeline. Five branch pipelines will also be built.
Coal gasification subjects coal to high heat and pressure to turn it into gases, which are processed into natural gas and other by-products. The total cost of the pipeline would exceed 100 billion yuan (HK$126 billion), Fu said, adding Sinopec would lead the project and be responsible for investing in 8 billion cubic metres of annual gas production and transmission capacity. Total capacity will be 30 billion to 36 billion cubic metres.
A research report warned of risks that higher carbon-dioxide emission costs in the future would cut returns. It said the mainland would see a five to seven-year boom in coal-gasification projects construction, as Beijing has approved a large number of such projects that are projected to see gas output rise from 0.3 bcm this year to 55 bcm in 2020.
While there have been proposals to capture carbon dioxide to be emitted, use it and store it underground, analysts at UBS said: "We do not believe any of the proposals are sufficient to handle the scale of carbon dioxide that may be ultimately discharged by the new coal-to-gas and coal-to-chemicals projects."
So much better than burning more coal but still represents a huge increase in GHG emissions.