Page 14 - DMEA Week 44

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Harrington points out that climate change is a risk to the long-term resilience of the company’s south african operations.
The company has accepted that a transition is necessary to a sustainable business model, which includes putting a framework in place to deal with its coal-based operations.
Harrington explains that sasol’s south african operations pose a distinct challenge, because it requires multiple levers. These include feedstock changes, renewable energy and process and energy efficiency.
Eighty-five per cent of sasol’s emissions profile is in south africa, particularly in the chemicals complex in secunda. The coal-to- liquids facility is an energy-intensive, multi- step process that converts coal to liquid fuels and chemicals.
This facility emits the equivalent of four power stations.
However, to put this into context, the facility makes up 10% of south africa’s emissions footprint, and, in turn, south africa contributes 1.3% to carbon emissions worldwide.
sasol’s operations outside of south africa, notably in China, slovakia, Italy, Germany and in North america, have a lower carbon footprint.
Klingenberg highlights that sasol’s approach to climate change hinges on
three pillars – reducing emissions through efficiency and cleaner energy sources, transforming its coal-based operations, and shifting its portfolio towards less carbon- intensive businesses.
Harrington elaborates that, based on these pillars, sasol has already improved the energy efficiency of its south african operations by 21.7%, and its global operations by 19.5%, since 2005.
The company is progressing large-scale renewable energy deployment, with 20 MW of capacity already under construction.
In terms of the coal-based operations,
sasol will explore emerging technologies, such as hydrogen and the beneficiation of carbon dioxide.
sasol is interacting with research stakeholders on hydrogen development and product innovation.
“In shifting sasol’s portfolio towards less carbon-intensive businesses, the company
is actively reviewing equity in assets that
are not aligned with this strategy and incorporating sustainability dimensions in future capital investments. There will be no more investment in greenfield coal-to-liquids, gas-to-liquids or new refining capacity,” says Harrington.
However, she adds that carbon offsets alone will not provide a long-term solution, but can play an important role. The company has also initiated projects to reduce water losses and to reduce air pollution in south africa.
sasol is a founding signatory to the united Nations Global Compact and is involved in national policy development initiatives, as well as in the united Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Conference of the Parties, which will this year take place in December, in spain.
sasol strategy and continuous improvement VP Marius Brand notes
that sasol’s chemicals complex in secunda currently uses 600 MW of electricity supplied by state-owned power utility Eskom. a first step in the company’s sustainability strategy will be to work with the power utility to supply cleaner electricity to secunda.
He adds that the company will acquire more energy-efficient equipment, in the form of capital and add-on equipment.
The company is also increasingly using gas at secunda complex instead of coal, because synthetic fuels require a certain amount of coal to gasify. “Liquefied natural gas has become easier to purchase and we will explore it much further.”
The company’s climate change mitigation
initiatives will also help to reduce its carbon tax liability, which will be between R800- million and R1-billion in 2020.
sasol has yet to unpack the impact on jobs once its coal operations are scaled down; however, the company says it will create other job opportunities that communities, specifically, can continue to benefit from.
“sasol is positioning to still be part of the south african energy and chemicals landscape in a lower-carbon future by producing products in a more sustainable manner.
“The GHG emissions reduction roadmap is a first step in the company’s long-term ambition and the 10% minimum medium- term target is only an initial goal,” concludes Harrington.
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1st Olefin Furnace of Ilam Petchem Plans Online
The CEO of Ilam Petrochemical Company said that Furnace I of the olefin unit of the complex had come online.
according to the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC), shapur Taghipour said the furnace was lit up by various operational teams in the facility and complementary operations were ongoing for fully operating the unit.
He said this launch brought the olefin unit of the complex one step forward in its completion.
Completion of the complex will generate jobs in the western province of Ilam. shana
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Week 44 07•November•2019