• Should oil-derived products be replaced with renewable fuel and chemical production?
  • From petrol to plastics, oil-derived products define modern life. A bold plan to change that comes with huge costs ¡ª but researchers and policymakers should take it seriously. Today¡¯s crude-oil refineries will need to be replaced with renewable fuel and chemical production to achieve net-zero goals. Credit: Brandon Bell/Getty
  • Will crude oil be used in refineries in 2050?
  • Although refineries of today convert mostly crude oil, we predict a gradual change to the refinery input stream so that only CO 2 and agricultural and municipal waste (which includes biomass and plastics) are used in 2050 (Fig. 1a).
  • Which conversion process is expected for the refinery of the future?
  • Among the conversion processes we expect for the refinery of the future, sketched in Fig. 2, one of the first chemical reactions is the rWGS (CO 2 +?H 2 ¡ú?CO?+?H 2 O) that converts CO 2 into CO (refs. 39, 40) for syngas production.
  • What is crude oil refining?
  • Crude oil is a mixture of tens of thousands of chemicals. The first step in petroleum refining is separating that mix through a distillation process. The raw crude oil is heated up to about 500¡ãC. Lighter components, such as those that make up gasoline, vaporize at lower temperatures and are captured.
  • How can the refining industry think of its future?
  • The refining industry has a unique expertise, which is to process and convert multiple feedstocks made of highly complex molecules. Refining should think of its future by building on this unique know-how, aiming to provide low carbon fuels and chemicals needed by society, while decreasing its environmental footprint. Article Summary
  • When did crude oil refining start?
  • Crude oil refining as we know it today took off in the early 1900s because petroleum-based products were increasingly used for transport 8.