Air emissions from the refining sector. Analysis of E-PRTR data 2007-2017

Report no. 4/20: This report is an updated version of the Concawe Report No 4/18 providing a review of the air pollutant emissions data submitted by national authorities for oil refineries in the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) from 2007 to 2017. Detailed analyses are given for six pollutants of interest (SOx, NOx, NMVOCs, benzene, CO₂, and PM10).

Emissions of all the six pollutants reviewed have decreased significantly between 2007 and 2017: SOx by 65%, NOx by 45%, NMVOCs by 38%, benzene by 50%, CO₂ by 20%, and PM10 by 65%. The mass of crude processed over the same eleven-year period has reduced by 9% (based on assumptions taken to determine the transformation input for 2017). When emissions are expressed as t per Mt of crude processed the reduction between 2007 and 2017 is: 61% for SOx, 40% for NOx, 32% for NMVOCs, 45% for benzene, 12% for CO₂, and 61% for PM10.