Surfactant carbon footprint of product perspective: Start with the olefin

Abstract: As society works toward the goals of the Paris Agreement and mitigating the effects of climate change, the representation of carbon footprint of product (CFP) has become a frequently requested aspect of product representation. At this time, however, globally aligned and accepted norms and conventions for calculating olefin CFPs, and hence olefins derivative CFPs, are still evolving leaving the producer with several choices under the various methods and standards available. Given the complex nature of the olefins supply chain and manufacturing process, different choices can lead to considerably different values for the olefin CFP which can propagate through to olefins derivatives such as detergent alcohols and surfactants. This makes meaningful analysis for the comparison of different assets, process configurations, company baselines and lower carbon approaches challenging. This presentation will discuss current options for methods and standards used to calculate olefin CFP and introduce concepts for managing the complexity of choices and providing clarity and transparency.