Downstream case studies

Fuels Industry UK member companies are involved in a range of projects outlining the how the downstream sector does its part towards net zero emissions, whilst supporting jobs, skills and growth across our economy.

As companies and others create and adopt new ways of lowering emissions from their products and processes across the refining and fuel supply sectors, this page will be used to signpost useful case studies of developments at the cutting edge of our industry.

Fuels Industry UK has released three detailed reports outlining the role the downstream sector is making in the journey to Net-Zero, for more information on these case studies and for context, you can read them: Future Vision (2019), Transition, Transformation, and Innovation (2020), and the Future of Mobility in the UK (2021).

For all the case studies mentioned, to learn more, click the link in the title or the button, which will direct to more detailed information.

This page is set out in the following way:

1. Low Carbon Fuels

2. Industrial Clusters and Carbon Capture

3. Forecourt of the Future

 

Hynet
HyNet North West is one of the two "Track 1" Industrial Clusters in the UK Government cluster sequencing program.

Low Carbon Fuels

Fulcrum North Point

Fuels Industry UK members Essar Oil UK Ltd and Fulcrum BioEnergy Ltd are investing £600 million in developing a new facility which will convert non-recyclable household waste into SAF for use by UK airports.

Being part of the HyNet Northwest complex on the Stanlow site, the project will convert several hundred thousand tonnes of household waste, which would have otherwise been destined for incineration or landfill, into approximately 100 million litres of low carbon SAF annually.

Fulcrum completed construction of its Nevada (USA) Sierra Biofuels Plant in July 2021 which is the world’s first commercial-scale plant converting household waste into low-cost, zero-carbon transportation fuels.

Fulcrum North Point
The Swindon Plant

ABSL (Advanced Biofuel Solutions Ltd) is developing low carbon fuels in Swindon, which use waste as a feedstock, to produce low carbon biofuels and carbon capture technology in the process to ensure net zero manufacturing methods.

The Swindon Plant is the first facility in the world to convert household waste into grid-quality biomethane at scale. It will be delivered 8,000 tonnes per year of waste and convert it into 22GWh or 2.2 million cubic metres of biomethane, enough to heat 1,800 homes or fuel 75 HGVs for a year.

ABSL are also innovating with a bio-hydrogen product called "Rad-Gas", which is made by reforming wastes and residues and results in negative GHG emissions when carbon capture is applied.

Swindon Plant
bp invests in biofuels

bp has acquired a 30% stake in Green Biofuels Ltd and will work with the company to help decarbonize businesses across the construction, freight, off-road, and marine industries.

Green Biofuels’ renewable hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) fuels can be used as a direct replacement for diesel.

The investment expands bp’s global biofuels portfolio, an area bp believes will be an essential part of reducing emissions from hard to decarbonize sectors including many diesel-run assets.  

bp invests in biofuels
bp to supply sustainable aviation fuel

bp will supply DHL Express with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) until 2026 as part of a new strategic collaboration with the global logistics company.

bp will provide SAF produced from waste oils, which can provide greenhouse gas emission reductions of up to 80 percent over its lifecycle compared with the conventional jet fuel it replaces, thereby reducing DHL’s carbon footprint.

DHL Express transports more than 480 million urgent documents and packages annually across its global network of 220 countries and territories.

bp to supply sustainable aviation fuel

ADVANCED BIOFUELS

ExxonMobil is funding a range of biofuel research programs for new energy sources, as society looks to reduce the carbon footprint of the transport sector.

They are focused on advanced biofuels made from low carbon alternatives such as algae, corn stover, switchgrass or methane emitted from microbial activity in landfills.

Among many other benefits, algae can be used to manufacture biofuels similar in composition to today’s transportation fuels and they are targeting to produce 10,000 barrels a day by 2025.

Screenshot 2023 01 20 At 151344

Industrial Clusters

HyNet North West

The HyNet North West Low Carbon Hydrogen (LCH) Project involves the development and deployment of a 100 kNm3/hr hydrogen production and supply facility and has been granted Track 1 status by the UK Government's Industrial Cluster Sequencing policy.

To be owned and operated by Essar at the Stanlow site, the plant will use refinery fuel gas (RFG) as a feedstock, and the CO2 produced will be captured and transported through pipelines for storage in the depleted Liverpool Bay gas fields.

The first plant in the HyNet Project is being designed to produce approximately 3000GWh/yr of hydrogen with the capability to expand production by up to six times at the same site.

HyNet Project
East Coast Cluster

The East Coast Cluster is the other major CCUS project to be given "Track 1" status under the Industrial Cluster Sequencing policy by the UK Government.

This project uses the Northern Endurance Partnership to provide the CCUS component of both the Net Zero Teesside cluster project and the Zero Carbon Humber cluster – geographically combining for collaborative benefits.

Fuels Industry UK member bp is the lead on the CCUS joint venture, with National Grid, Equinor, Shell, Total Energies and ENI the other partners providing the opportunity to store 450million tonnes of CO2. 

East Coast Cluster
V Net Zero

Several Primary Emitter capture projects across industrial, power, hydrogen and energy from waste have united as the V Net Zero Humber Cluster, which aims to deliver carbon capture and storage technologies to serve the Humber region.

The project plans on removing 50% of the Humber regions emissions, capturing 11MTPA by 2030 with a total potential storage for over 300MT of CO2.

This project involves two of the UK’s refineries, Phillips 66 Humber and Prax Lindsey, and will use largely existing infrastructure to transport the CO2 into the depleted gas field in the Southern North Sea Viking area.

V Net Zero
NECCUS and Acorn Cluster

The Scottish Cluster with Petroineos's Grangemouth refinery a partner, was announced as a “reserve” project and has not immediately been provided funding as a Track 1 industrial cluster.

The Acorn project is a project within the NECCUS alliance and Scottish Cluster, which will consist of two major elements, the CCS Project and the Hydrogen Project.

The CCS project will make use of existing infrastructure to transport CO2 to the storage site, safely offshore. Acorn hydrogen will have the ability to take natural gas, and reform it into low carbon blue hydrogen, using the existing CCS infrastructure to store the CO2.

NECCUS

SOUTH WALES INDUSTRIAL CLUSTER

The South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) - a 'clustering' group of major industrial companies in the region along the M4 corridor that includes Valero's Pembroke Refinery - is developing several Roadmap and Deployment projects which will seek to identify the best options for cost-effective decarbonisation of industry in South Wales.

The projects will look at the infrastructure required for the development of the hydrogen economy, for large scale CO2 capture, usage, and storage (CCUS) and transport as well as onsite strategic opportunities specific to each industry – reducing up to 16MtCO2 from the power and industrial sectors in Wales.

Forecourt of the Future

Shell Fulham EV Hub

Shell has built its first EV Hub in Fulham, central London.

A global pilot, this is the first time the company has converted one of its existing sites to cater solely for electric vehicles.

Shell Fulham features nine high-powered, ultra-rapid 175kW charge points which can charge most vehicles up to 80% within 30 minutes – making the experience of charging as quick and as easy as possible for consumers.

Fulham EV Hub
bp Mobility Hub

In the Greenwich Peninsula, Fuels Industry UK member bp has developed a multi-modal mobility hub which links EV charging with car clubs and bike hire, which can all be accessed through a central digital system.

Along with transport options, it also geographically combines parcel lockers and a Wild Bean Café for drivers to relax or continue to do some work while waiting for charging or in-between transport modes.

Mobility Hub

BP TO OPERATE MAJOR EV CHARGING HUB

bp pulse is set to operate one of Europe’s largest Electric Vehicle (EV) charging hubs after its planned opening this autumn (2022).

The NEC Group and their partner, The EV Network, have been given planning approval for the charging hub on the NEC Campus in the West Midlands.

The project has been developed by The EV Network and is funded by its investment partner, Zood Infrastructure Limited (Zood), a wholly owned subsidiary of SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust plc (SEEIT).

This project follows the existing agreement between The EV Network, Zood and bp pulse signed in 2021, which aims to significantly expand the provision of convenient ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure across the country.

The charging hub will contain Alpitronic ultra-fast 300KW DC chargers capable of charging 32 EVs at any one time. Maximising the locational benefits of the NEC Campus, the hub will be accessed via a new entrance just off junction 6 of the M42 and close to the M6 and Birmingham airport.

Bp Mobility Hub
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