Petroleum has played a vital role as the major supplier of materials and energy during the evolution of human civilization. Given the change in demand for energy from high to low carbon and ultimately net zero carbon, the energy framework has undergone revolutionary changes. The energy attribute of petroleum will be gradually weakened, while the material and CO2 emission attributes will be gradually strengthened. Thus, the petrochemical processing basis, scientific concepts, and ideas will undergo major adjustments to reshape the petrochemical industry. Hence, it is necessary to reconsider the evolution of the petrochemical industry from a historical perspective and to clarify the historical causes, development contexts, and possible challenges in future development. Herein, we critically reassess the key drivers and rules guiding the development of the petrochemical industry and propose a reconstruction strategy based on simplified engineering thinking, innate nature of energy and material, and CO2 emissions, which can be realized through the integration of gasification with CO as the target product and recent C1 chemistry targeting the precise synthesis of chemicals. The concept of the petrochemical industry will change from the product-based process of selection and transformation of raw material molecules to the process of carbon atom reconfiguration driven by product CO2 emissions. More accurate management of C atoms can be accomplished with greatly improved utilization efficiency and the reduction of separation intensity and CO2 emissions via the stepwise introduction of a new approach in the current petrochemical industry.

中文翻译：

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面向未来的石化行业


在人类文明的进化过程中，石油作为材料和能源的主要供应商发挥了至关重要的作用。鉴于能源需求从高碳到低碳，最终实现净零碳，能源框架发生了革命性的变化。石油的能量属性将逐渐减弱，而材料和 CO2 排放属性将逐渐加强。因此，石油化工加工基础、科学观念和思路将发生重大调整，重塑石油化工行业。因此，有必要从历史的角度重新思考石化工业的演变，并明确其历史原因、发展背景和未来发展可能面临的挑战。在此，我们批判性地重新评估了指导石化行业发展的关键驱动因素和规则，并提出了一种基于简化工程思维、能源和材料固有性质以及 CO2 排放的重构策略，这可以通过以 CO 为目标产物的气化和最近的 C1 化学相结合来实现，目标是化学品的精确合成。石化工业的概念将从基于产品的原材料分子选择和转化过程转变为由产品 CO2 排放驱动的碳原子重构过程。在当前的石化行业中，通过逐步引入一种新方法，可以大大提高利用效率，降低分离强度和 CO2 排放，从而实现对 C 原子的更精确管理。