Air emissions

Substances accounting for the largest percentage of total air emissions from the ORLEN Group’s installations include: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and dioxide, as well as particulate matter. They are generated mainly from the combustion of fuels to produce electricity and heat, as well as in the refining and chemical processes. There are also volatile organic compound emissions and other process-specific emissions.

In 2021, total ORLEN Group’s air emissions, including of carbon dioxide, were in excess of 17.7 million Mg.

SO₂, NOx, CO and particulate matter emissions amounted to 36,600 Mg, i.e. 10.35% less than in 2020. The Group emitted over 17.6 million Mg of CO₂, up by 3.77% year on year. The vast majority of CO₂ emissions are covered by the EU ETS.

2021 saw a significant decrease in sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from PKN ORLEN’s and Unipetrol’s installations and a reduction in carbon monoxide emissions from the ammonia plant at ANWIL S.A.

Hydrocarbons and methane account for the largest percentage of emissions of other substances. The decline in their volumes is due to the number of plant shutdowns during the year: in 2021, there were fewer shutdowns of ammonia production facilities at ANWIL S.A.

Other substance emissions from ORLEN Group companies’ installations include volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – their volume was 9,765 Mg. Emissions of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) amounted to 0.04 Mg and 824 Mg, respectively.

Direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the ORLEN Group include CO₂ emissions reported under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and non-EU ETS emissions.

Total CO₂ emissions from EU ETS installations were 17,609,161 Mg in 2021, while non-EU ETS CO₂ emissions from small-scale local heat sources and waste incineration plants totalled 42,857 Mg.

Greenhouse gas emissions were balanced monthly for the ORLEN Group companies’ units which participate in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The utilisation of the CO₂ emission allowance allocations was monitored on an ongoing basis for each unit. The total pool of free allowances granted to ORLEN Group installations for 2021 was 7,606,860 Mg.

The Group monitors actual CO₂ emissions against its allowances on an ongoing basis, seeking to ensure that it has the required allowance amounts.

Emissions of all greenhouse gases totalled 17,654,205 Mg, or 17,777,829 Mg of eCO₂ equivalent.

The substances are used in laboratory and analytical testing, in refrigerating and air conditioning equipment, and as process reagents in the production of chlorine and caustic soda. Trichlorofluoromethane equivalent (CFC-11) for the emitted substances was calculated in accordance with Regulation No. 1005/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of September 16th 2009, and amounted to 5.95 Mg.

We are pursuing a decarbonisation strategy, which is one of the commitments under the ORLEN Group’s new business strategy until 2030. PKN ORLEN has declared its intention to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In furtherance of this goal, the Group aims to reduce carbon emissions from its existing refinery and petrochemical assets by 20% and cut down carbon emissions per megawatt-hour of electricity by 33% by 2030. The net zero emissions strategy is based on four pillars: energy efficiency in production, zero-carbon power generation, fuels of the future, and green finance.

We have taken steps to develop a methodology for calculating our carbon footprint. The methodology is compliant with the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard for Scope 1 and Scope 2 (market-based approach) emissions. Work on Scope 3 is currently underway.

The sources of direct (Scope 1) emissions are electricity and steam generation, heating and cooling processes. These emissions are produced as a result of the combustion of fuels in boilers, furnaces, engines and turbines, and in technological processes.

The methodology used to calculate direct emissions takes into account continuous and periodic measurements of GHG emissions as well as monitoring of the type and amount of fuels used, and converts them to GHG CO₂e.

Indirect (Scope 2) GHG emissions are calculated using the market-based method. They include emissions from the generation of purchased or externally sourced electricity, heating, cooling, and steam consumed.

Biogenic carbon emissions (i.e. emissions of carbon that is already part of the natural carbon cycle) at the ORLEN Group are emissions produced in the combustion of bioenergy-based fuels. Based on IPCC reports, CO₂ emissions from burning biodiesel and biomass as alternative fuels are consistently offset by the amounts of carbon dioxide absorbed by plants.

In accordance with the GHG Protocol, biogenic emissions are reported separately from Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

In the case of PKN ORLEN S.A., biogenic emissions have been calculated based on the biodiesel combustion values from the DEFRA database and amounted to 7 Mg of CO₂e.