Shell builds pyrolysis oil unit in Singapore to convert plastic waste into chemicals

By Florence Tan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (LON 🙂 said on Tuesday it plans to build an innovative pyrolysis oil to convert plastic waste into a chemical raw material at its petrochemical complex in Singapore, from oil and gas to renewables and undergoing a bottom-up change. carbon energy.

The company is also considering building a regional carbon capture and storage (CCS) site and a 550,000 tonne (tpy) biofuel plant per year at the 60-year-old Pulau Bukom manufacturing site, one of Shell’s remaining energy and chemical parks. globally.

The projects are part of Shell Singapore’s plans to halve emissions from its operations by 2030, from a clean level in 2016, Shell Downstream director Huibert Vigeveno said.

“This year, we have already halved our crude processing capacity, which is in line with Shell’s global emissions reduction targets,” he said at a ceremony to launch a pyrolysis oil refurbishment project.

Energy companies are under increasing pressure from investors, activists and governments to move away from fossil fuels and rapidly increase investment in renewables.

Shell is committed to halving its global operations by 2030, as well as a 45% reduction in its net carbon footprint by 2035.

Singapore’s innovative pyrolysis oil will produce 50,000 tonnes (tpy) per year of treated pyrolysis oil by 2023, the company said. The unit is Shell’s first in the world. He did not provide an investment figure for the Singapore project.

Pyrolysis melts plastic waste in products such as pyrolysis oil, which can be improved as a raw material for plastics and chemicals, although the process is not commercially proven and consumes a lot of energy.

Shell also plans to build two chemical conversion units in Asia to convert plastic waste into pyrolysis oil at Shell Energy and Chemical Park in Bukom and Jurong Island in Singapore, along with BlueAlp, which will be up and running in 2023, similar to units in the Netherlands.

Other projects being planned in Singapore include a carbon capture and storage (CCS) hub to reduce emissions.

In response to Shell’s global ambition to make about 2 million tons of sustainable aircraft fuel by 2025, the company is looking to invest 550,000 tons of biofuel production annually from waste and vegetable oils, Vigeveno said.

Shell has announced that it will test the use of hydrogen fuel cells for Singapore ships and is considering developing a solar farm at a landfill near Bukom.