Huge Phillips 66 biofuels project will test the industry’s green promises

In the oldest refining town in the American West, Phillips 66 is promising a greener future as it moves to halt crude-oil processing and build a massive renewable diesel plant, leading a global trend, said Reuters.

That plan, announced in 2020, was initially welcomed by residents weary from a history of pollution and toxic leaks. But some have grown skeptical as the project’s details cast doubt on the environmental benefits of revamping the 127-year-old complex on 1,100 acres in Rodeo, California.

The company’s initial claim that it would slash greenhouse gasses by half doesn’t match the project’s environmental impact report, published by county regulators, which shows a 1% reduction, according to a Reuters calculation of emissions data in the report. What’s more, refining of petroleum byproducts may continue as a side project.

And renewable-diesel production will require a surge in marine and train traffic, increasing emissions and spill risk. The conversion also requires boosting natural-gas usage to produce hydrogen required to make the biofuel. These dynamics and other variables raise questions about Phillips 66’s marketing of renewable diesel as a green fuel and make it impossible to tell whether and how much the refinery overhaul will reduce community pollution, three independent environmental experts told Reuters.

The project’s environmental impact will be a test case for similar facilities worldwide. Several dozen new U.S. renewable diesel plants are planned, according to energy consultancy Stratas Advisors. Most will be conversions of oil refineries. Production capacity could triple, to 6 billion gallons, by 2026, Stratas says. Europe and Asia are seeing similar trends.

The Rodeo conversion could be either “a model or a cautionary tale,” said Gwen Ottinger, an associate professor in the Center for Science, Technology and Society at Drexel University who has studied air-pollution monitoring in Rodeo.

Phillips 66 representatives say the project, dubbed Rodeo Renewed, will significantly cut certain regulated pollutants, and will lead to large cuts in greenhouse gasses when the biofuel is burned in vehicles. The refinery’s general manager, Jolie Rhinehart, said renewable diesel is the cleanest-burning option for use in transporting goods by truck.

“Heavy-haul trucking is a vital aspect to our way of life in this country and in this world,” she said. “And renewable diesel is the lowest-emission way to fuel that energy that we need to keep our trucks moving." Rhinehart added that emissions directly from the plant, affecting local residents, would be “significantly reduced” by the project.

Some Rodeo residents worry the overhaul could become another chapter in a long story of local pollution. Sitting across the bay from San Francisco’s glittering cityscape, Rodeo is a poster child for post-industrial problems. In addition to the Phillips 66 plant, the area has hosted a second oil refinery, a lead smelter, and a dynamite factory. Vacant storefronts and rusted-out cars blight the boulevard leading to a beach too toxic for swimming. The community, in unincorporated Contra Costa County, has much higher concentrations of illness, poverty and brownfield cleanup sites than most others in California.

We remind, Nexus Circular has signed a long-term commercial agreement with Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) for the supply of a significant volume annually of circular liquid feedstocks from a new advanced recycling facility. This long-term contractual commitment further strengthens CPChem’s relationship with Nexus for advanced recycled plastic feedstocks to produce Marlex Anew Circular Polyethylene.


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Heartland Polymers says it has successfully started production at its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant in Strathcona County, Alberta, which is now providing on-site feedstock for commercial polypropylene (PP) production, said Canplastics.

“Thanks to the dedication and hard work of our operations team, I am proud to report that our propane dehydrogenation plant has been providing a reliable onsite source of feedstock to our polypropylene production since the end of 2022,” Heartland CEO Todd Karran said in a March 16 news release. “Heartland is responsibly producing and shipping [PP] to customers daily, and we continue to focus on optimizing our service. As the new entrant to the market and one that brings Heartland’s promise of reliability, service and sustainability, there is high interest in our products. We expect it will continue to grow now that we have achieved commercial production."

Calgary-based Heartland says it produced approximately 200 million pounds of PP in 2022 after the initial PP production began in July, followed by the PDH plant’s start-up in October 2022.

Heartland also says the plant is unique to the industry in that it produces both polymer grade propylene (PGP) feedstock and PP product at a single site.

Heartland’s PP plant and its co-generation central utilities block (CUB) were commissioned in 2022. Before the PDH plant entered into service, Heartland was producing PP with PGP feedstock from parent company Inter Pipeline’s NGL business, Canada’s only PGP producer prior to PDH entering into service. This alternate feed source enabled Heartland to begin PP production in late fall 2022 and remains a key aspect of Heartland’s reliability in addition to its geographic location.

Heartland is currently producing a range of homo-polymers with a plan to add random co-polymers to its production schedule later in 2023. Production currently focuses on serving demand for film, sheet extrusion, fibres, and injection molding, the release said.

We remind, avago, a Belgium-based chemicals group, and Heartland, a US-based industrial hemp firm, have reached a joint development deal to produce the next generation of plastic resins. This partnership intends to drive material innovation for firms that purchase huge volumes of plastic. Heartland's hemp additives will help these producers cut the weight, cost, and carbon footprint of raw materials. Ravago is among the world's top plastic recyclers, distributors, and compounders. Along with subsidiaries, it supplies more than 6.6 M tonnes of rubber and polymer. Heartland is constructing America's first dependable industrial hemp supply chain to offer plastics additives. By leveraging renewable and carbon-negative plastic additives such as industrial hemp, Ravago can provide lighter, stronger, cheaper, and more sustainable composite products.

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McDermott has been awarded an engineering, procurement services and construction management (EPsCm) contract from Slovnaft, a.s., for the steam cracker intensification off-gas processing project at its plant in Bratislava, Slovakia, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The project will upgrade the existing steam cracker unit by adding a low-pressure recovery unit, increasing ethylene production capacity utilizing the off-gas from the existing production. McDermott will provide comprehensive EPsCm services and leverage its strategic agreement with Lummus Technology, the licensor of the steam cracker unit.

"McDermott has a long-standing relationship with Slovnaft, dating back to 2003. This award is testament to our prior performance and the confidence Slovnaft has in us," said Vaseem Khan, Senior Vice President, Onshore. "Our work with Lummus Technology since the basic design and engineering package phase of the project built our intricate knowledge and understanding of the unit. This project is an excellent example of how, through our strategic agreement with Lummus, we deliver technology solutions through the entire plant life cycle."

The Slovnaft refinery is one of the most modern refineries in Europe. In addition to oil processing and fuel production, it also produces basic plastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene. The ethylene unit is key to the company's petrochemical section.

Work on the project will be delivered from McDermott's center for downstream engineering in Brno, Czech Republic.

We remind, McDermott International, together with its storage business, CB&I, has been awarded a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) contract from Gunvor Petroleum Rotterdam B.V. for the Green Hydrogen Import Terminal project.

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Mexico's northern state Nuevo Leon on Sunday warned that it would seek penalties for state oil company Pemex after a dramatic increase in visible emissions from its Cadereyta refinery earlier in the day, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Video footage posted on social media, including by State Governor Samuel Garcia, showed thick, yellow and black smoke billowing from flare stacks - meant to burn off only small volumes of excess natural gas.

"We're going to impose harsh penalties for this incident," Garcia, who belongs to the Citizens' Movement, a party in opposition to the ruling National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), said in a video message.

"I've asked the environmental minister to be forceful and apply the law so that, whatever happens, I no longer see these types of events that pollute our air. We have the right to clean air in Nuevo Leon."

Pemex said in a statement that it had "safely halted" operations in one of the plants at the Cadereyta refinery in the afternoon; the company added there was no risk to the population and the emissions were under control.

Nuevo Leon's environment ministry, however, said in a statement that it had repeatedly detected "intensified" emissions from the refinery, particularly at night, and that the refinery was responsible for 90% of sulfur dioxide emissions in the metropolitan area of Monterrey city, the state's capital.

The ministry said that state environmental law gave it the right, if necessary, to halt operations at the refinery.

Heavily indebted, Pemex is under intense international pressure, including from the United States, and its own bond investors, to clean up its operations after two vast methane leaks last year and excessive gas flaring.

We remind, Mexican state-run oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, also known as Pemex, expects to increase its crude processing to 1.2 M bpd this year. The rise from 922,000 bpd processed currently would come from Mexico's six active refineries along with Pemex's refinery in Deer Park, Texas, Nahle said at President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's regular news conference.

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Technip Energies has been awarded a contract by CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Company Ltd. (CSPC) for the Huizhou Phase III project, a mega liquid ethylene cracker located in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Technip Energies is providing the proprietary technology and process design for CSPC’s 1,600 KTA(1) ethylene plant. This liquid ethylene cracker pioneers the use of a low CO2 furnace design and electrification of major compressors. The plant is anticipated to have 20% lower CO2 emissions than a similar conventional facility and will be able to maximize benefit from the rapidly decarbonizing power grid for future CO2 emission reduction.

In addition to the ethylene cracker technology, low emission furnace design scheme and the electrification of the major compressors, Technip Energies will provide key proprietary technology including a Heat Integrated Rectifier System (HRS), Ripple Trays and Spent Caustic Treatment Unit. The cracker utilizes Technip Energies’ Ultra Selective Conversion (USC) U and W coil furnace technology, selected due to its high energy efficiency and improved yields.

Bhaskar Patel, SVP Sustainable Fuels, Chemicals and Circularity of Technip Energies, stated: “We are pleased to be entrusted once again by CSPC for the third phase of Huizhou project. This award builds on our long-term collaboration, illustrated by the successful delivery of two prior ethylene plants in Huizhou, China. Our proven ethylene technology, and leading edge in the low-emission furnace design are clearly important differentiators to make this project a success. It will showcase CSPC and T.EN’s shared vision of accelerating the transition towards a sustainable future using technological advancement as a key lever.”

We remind, TotalEnergies is joining forces with Portuguese packaging player Intraplas to create commercial products with TotalEnergies renewable polymer – a range of the RE:clic portfolio, which uses renewable sources to lower carbon footprint. TotalEnergies’ biorefinery in La Mede, France, allows direct access to renewable feedstock for its drop-in RE: newable polymer range derived from bio-based products. The company claims these polymers retain virgin-like properties.

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