據ICIS網站4月14日消息 Equale和MEGlobal前首席執行官表示，美國的裂解裝置最終將以氫氣而不是天然氣作為主要能源，以顯著降低碳足跡。

　　Ramesh Ramachandran在接受ICIS采訪時說：“我認為在美國會發生的是，許多裂解裝置將使用氫氣作為燃料，因為裂解裝置是巨大的能源消耗者。而一旦氫成為驅動力，塑料本身就碳足跡而言就變得更加綠色。”

　　Ramachandran于2017-2020年擔任科威特聚乙烯生產商Equale的首席執行官，2009-2017年擔任阿聯酋乙二醇生產商MEGlobal的首席執行官，目前是梅格文咨詢公司的負責人。

　　他指出，在來自下游裝置的塑料中添加可回收成分將進一步改善裂解裝置的環境狀況。

　　Ramachandran表示：“如果你說你在美國使用的任何包裝材料都至少含有30%的可回收成分，那么我認為你將從生態系統中帶走近70-80%的（碳）。”

　　他指出，用于加熱裂解裝置的氫氣將徹底改變乙烯和下游產品（如聚乙烯和乙二醇）的碳足跡，用于能源密集型化學工業。

　　“你需要從太陽能（和風能）發電，然后將其轉化為氫氣，然后將氫氣送入裂解裝置，這就是為什么這至少需要5年的時間，但要實現這一目標的壓力非常大。”

　　這將需要零排放可再生能源制成的綠色氫氣。

　　王磊 摘譯自 ICIS

　　原文如下：

　　US crackers will be fuelled by hydrogen to reduce carbon footprint

　　NEW YORK (ICIS)--US crackers will eventually be fuelled by hydrogen rather than natural gas as the main energy source to significantly bring down their carbon footprint, the former CEO of Equate and MEGlobal said.

　　“What I think will happen in the US is a lot of the crackers will go to hydrogen as their fuel because crackers are huge consumers of energy. And once hydrogen becomes the driver, the plastic itself becomes a lot greener in terms of its carbon footprint,” said Ramesh Ramachandran in an interview with ICIS.

　　Ramachandran was CEO of Kuwait-based polyethylene (PE) producer EQUATE from 2017-2020 and CEO of UAE-based ethylene glycols (EG) producer MEGlobal from 2009-2017. He is now principal at consultancy MEGVIN Advisors.

　　Adding recycled content to plastics coming out of downstream units would further improve the environmental profile of the crackers, he noted.

　　“If you say that any packaging material you use in the US will have at least 30% recycled content, then I think you will have taken almost 70-80% of the [carbon] out of the ecosystem. And then you have pretty much won the war,” said Ramachandran.

　　Hydrogen used to heat crackers would completely change the carbon footprint of ethylene and downstream products such as polyethylene (PE) and ethylene glycol (EG) for the energy intensive chemical industry, he noted.

　　“You will need to generate the power from solar [and wind] and convert this to hydrogen and then get that hydrogen to a cracker which is why this is at least 5 years away. But the pressure is very high to get there,” said Ramachandran.

　　This would be the green hydrogen made from renewable energy with zero emissions.