China’s Sinopec to construct largest carbon capture plant in China

The company recently pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050.

China’s largest oil refiner China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec is building a carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) plant, the largest of its kind in the country.

The project aims to capture CO2 emissions from the company’s Qilu refinery in the eastern Shandong province during its hydrogen-making process which is then injected into 73 oil wells in the Shengli oilfield.

According to Sinopec, with a purified rate of more than 99%, the CO2 can be mixed with crude oil and help generate higher oil production. Sinopec estimates that 10.68 million tonnes of CO2 would be injected into the oilfield over the next 15 years, boosting crude oil production by nearly 3 million tonnes.

Aside from a CCUS project, Sinopec is also mulling over plans of setting up a CCUS research and development centre, however, no details about the plans have been revealed.

The CCUS project is slated to start operations by the end of the year.