information:filtering
Greenhouse gas emissions

"A key factor affecting petrochemicals life-cycle emissions is the methane intensity of feedstocks, especially in the production segment." Emissions from cracking of naptha and natural gas (common in the US as gas is cheap there) depend a lot on the source of energy (for example gas burnt to provide high temperatures) but that from naptha is certainly more per kg of feedstock. Both steam cracking and production from natural gas via ethane are estimated to emit 1.8 to 2kg of CO2 per kg ethylene produced, totalling over 260 million tonnes a year. This is more than all other manufactured chemicals except cement and ammonia. According to a 2022 report using renewable or nuclear energy could cut emissions by almost half.