A review of carbon accounting in petroleum refining industry

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO${}_2$), a major threat to the sustainable development of the economy, accounts for more than two-thirds of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Petroleum refining is one of the major sources of GHGs in the industry. Accounting for various GHG emissions in the petroleum refining industry can provide essential data to support low-carbon transformation, which is vital for energy savings and emission reduction. This paper provides an overview of carbon accounting methods in the petroleum refining industry. Then, a novel near-real-time framework for carbon accounting is presented and tested using real-world datasets from the petroleum refining industry. It is crucial to update carbon emission-related data in real time, combining the process mechanisms with sources and product-side data. This article will serve as a helpful resource that provides a quick overview of carbon accounting in the petroleum refining industry for researchers.