Making Technology Work

According to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, the percentage of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached their highest level in at least 800,000 years and is still rising.

Scientists fear such higher levels of greenhouse gases could push the average global temperature up by more than 2-degree Celsius in the next few decades, and that could be disastrous for the whole of humanity. Government leaders and industry captains agree that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced dramatically to combat the climate change crisis.

The progress in limiting global warming will not be possible without making significant changes in the functioning of the global chemicals and petrochemicals industry, which is the third-largest emitting industry behind iron/steel and cement.

To achieve the reduction in emissions, the chemicals and petrochemicals industry is mostly relying on innovations, which have been critical to the long-term growth and the prosperity of the industry.

Innovation can come in a variety of areas including new products development, improvements in raw material and feedstock identification and utilization, and the use of techniques to identify ways to improve process efficiencies.

Moreover, such radical changes in the oil and gas downstream sector are not possible without the support and contribution from technology providers, who have been playing a key role in providing innovative solutions to the industry, especially for the past two decades as the demand for cleaner fuel and environment friendly products has been gathering momentum.

So far, technology providers have been very instrumental in maximising the profitability of the downstream industry by optimising existing assets, reducing wastages, and enabling the use of cost-advantaged, abundant feedstocks for power, transportation, and production.

Going forward, they are likely to play even more important role in reshaping the future of refining and petrochemicals companies.

Recognising the importance of technology providers in the oil and gas industry’s struggle to cut emissions, we are dedicating the current issue of the Refining & Petrochemicals Middle East to them.

Besides this, here is another new year to look forward to, filled with new hope and expectations.