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Environmental impact assessments for two projects of CNOOC in Shanxi, including coal-to-gas projects, have been approved. Author/Source: Date: 2016-03-17 Clicks: 6 According to a announcement on the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s website on March 14, the ministry published its decisions regarding the approval of environmental impact assessment documents for construction projects issued between March 1, 2016, and March 14, 2016; in these decisions, the environmental impact assessments for CNOOC’s coal-to-gas project in Shanxi and Shanxi Lu’an’s coal-to-oil project were both approved. The construction site for the CNOOC Shanxi coal-to-gas project is located in the Zuo Yun Coal Chemical Industry Base in Datong City, Shanxi Province. The project utilizes local coal resources and employs coal gasification under pressure as well as pulverized coal gasification technology to produce 4 billion standard cubic meters of coal-to-natural gas per year. The main components of the plant include a gasification unit, a purification unit, a methanation unit, a sulfur recovery unit, an air separation unit, a tar hydrogenation unit, etc. Storage and transportation engineering mainly includes circular coal silos, limestone bins, slag bins, sulfur warehouses, storage tanks, crystalline salt temporary storage tanks, and vehicle loading stations. Public utilities mainly include the circulating water system, desalination station, etc. Environmental protection projects mainly include flares, oil and gas recovery units, sewage treatment plants, membrane concentration systems, high-concentration brine evaporation and crystallization systems, and temporary storage sites for hazardous waste. Off-site supporting facilities include a water treatment plant, a coal transfer trestle, an ash storage area, and ash transport roads. The main product of this project is synthetic natural gas, at a volume of 4 billion standard cubic meters per year. The by-products include 16,600 tons per year of crude phenol, 115,800 tons per year of sulfur, 45,600 tons per year of liquid argon, 40,700 tons per year of liquid ammonia, 81,500 tons per year of naphtha, and 77,500 tons per year of diesel blending components. The Ministry of Environmental Protection approved the CNOOC project, stating that its construction complies with relevant plans such as the \"Overall Development Plan for the Zuo Yun Coal Chemical Industry Base in Datong City\", as well as the requirements of environmental impact assessments for planning; it also meets the conditions set out in the \"Environmental Access Requirements for Modern Coal Chemical Projects (Trial)\". After implementing the regional reduction measures and the various environmental protection measures outlined in the environmental impact assessment report, the emissions of various pollutants can meet the specified standards, and the emissions of key pollutants comply with the total emission control requirements. In principle, we agree with the nature, scale, process, location of the construction project, as well as the environmental protection measures outlined in your company’s environmental impact assessment report. The Shanxi Lu’an coal-to-oil project is located in the Lu’an Oil, Chemicals, and Thermal Integration Comprehensive Demonstration Park within the Wangqiao New Coal Chemical Industry Park in Xiangyuan County, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province. By utilizing local coal resources and employing technologies such as pressurized coal gasification and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, it produces 1.8 million tons per year of petroleum products and chemicals. The project is constructed in two phases: Phase 1 involves the construction of an iron-based FTO oil production facility with an annual capacity of 1 million tons, while Phase 2 involves the construction of a cobalt-based FTO wax processing facility with an annual capacity of 800,000 tons. The main facilities include units for coal gasification and purification, hydrogen production from PSA off-gases, synthesis of iron-based oils, processing of 1 million tons per year of iron-based oils, and processing of 800,000 tons per year of cobalt-based oils. The Ministry of Environmental Protection approved the coal-to-oil project in Lu’an, Shanxi, stating that the project as a whole meets the requirements of the \"Environmental Access Requirements for Modern Coal Chemical Industry Projects (Trial)\". However, the groundwater in certain areas of the plant lacks the necessary capacity to prevent pollution, posing a risk of contaminating sensitive groundwater areas such as the Xin’an Spring Protection Zone and the centralized water supply sources in Wangqiao Town. Moreover, the area in question has limited environmental capacity and a high population density; therefore, it is essential to strictly implement various pollution prevention measures and regional reduction strategies, to control the population size within the industrial park, and to adopt the strictest environmental risk prevention measures and monitoring programs. After strictly implementing the regional reduction measures and various environmental protection measures outlined in the environmental impact assessment report, the emissions of various pollutants can meet the specified standards, and the emissions of key pollutants comply with the requirements for total emission control. After comprehensive consideration, our department agrees in principle to the nature, scale, process, location of the construction project, as well as the environmental protection measures outlined in your company’s environmental impact report.