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The future of fossil fuels, chemicals, and feedstocks : Outlining a research agenda on the role of China in the global petrochemical industry

Larsen, Mathias and Tilsted, Joachim Peter LU orcid (2024) In Energy Research and Social Science 118.
Abstract

Petrochemical production is tightly entangled with fossil fuel extraction and constitutes the primary driver of oil demand growth. Therefore, scholars have increasingly started exploring the linkages between fossil fuels and chemicals, tracing their importance for the political economy of energy transitions. A defining feature in the global petrochemical industry is that the majority of the recent and ongoing build-out of production capacity is located in China. Therefore, the outlook of the Chinese petrochemical industry is critical to the prospects of national as well as global energy transitions. In this paper, we review and contextualize the Chinese expansion, distilling key dimensions that shape the prospects of petrochemical... (More)

Petrochemical production is tightly entangled with fossil fuel extraction and constitutes the primary driver of oil demand growth. Therefore, scholars have increasingly started exploring the linkages between fossil fuels and chemicals, tracing their importance for the political economy of energy transitions. A defining feature in the global petrochemical industry is that the majority of the recent and ongoing build-out of production capacity is located in China. Therefore, the outlook of the Chinese petrochemical industry is critical to the prospects of national as well as global energy transitions. In this paper, we review and contextualize the Chinese expansion, distilling key dimensions that shape the prospects of petrochemical transitions: i) Chinese political economy dynamics and the role of industrial policy; ii) the tensions between petrochemical expansion, decarbonization, and pollution; and iii) ramifications for the international political economy of petrochemicals. On this basis, we propose a research agenda that explores these three areas in more depth, outlining key issues for an increasingly important trend that shapes reconfigurations in the global energy order.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
China, Decarbonization, Energy transitions, Fossil fuels, Petrochemicals
in
Energy Research and Social Science
volume
118
article number
103750
pages
8 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85204097026
ISSN
2214-6296
DOI
10.1016/j.erss.2024.103750
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors
id
4d8fbc8d-6672-40cf-9471-319f3778fb0c
date added to LUP
2024-09-27 16:17:25
date last changed
2025-04-04 15:13:55
@article{4d8fbc8d-6672-40cf-9471-319f3778fb0c,
  abstract     = {{<p>Petrochemical production is tightly entangled with fossil fuel extraction and constitutes the primary driver of oil demand growth. Therefore, scholars have increasingly started exploring the linkages between fossil fuels and chemicals, tracing their importance for the political economy of energy transitions. A defining feature in the global petrochemical industry is that the majority of the recent and ongoing build-out of production capacity is located in China. Therefore, the outlook of the Chinese petrochemical industry is critical to the prospects of national as well as global energy transitions. In this paper, we review and contextualize the Chinese expansion, distilling key dimensions that shape the prospects of petrochemical transitions: i) Chinese political economy dynamics and the role of industrial policy; ii) the tensions between petrochemical expansion, decarbonization, and pollution; and iii) ramifications for the international political economy of petrochemicals. On this basis, we propose a research agenda that explores these three areas in more depth, outlining key issues for an increasingly important trend that shapes reconfigurations in the global energy order.</p>}},
  author       = {{Larsen, Mathias and Tilsted, Joachim Peter}},
  issn         = {{2214-6296}},
  keywords     = {{China; Decarbonization; Energy transitions; Fossil fuels; Petrochemicals}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Energy Research and Social Science}},
  title        = {{The future of fossil fuels, chemicals, and feedstocks : Outlining a research agenda on the role of China in the global petrochemical industry}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2024.103750}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.erss.2024.103750}},
  volume       = {{118}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}