Marathon Petroleum Corp. is a refiner, marketer, and transportation firm — the most important such refiner with 16 refineries with a capability of three million barrels each day. The Ohio-based firm, fashioned in 2009, is a subsidiary of Marathon Oil.
It focuses on lowering greenhouse gasoline depth via vitality effectivity measures and portfolio diversification. It goals to scale back such depth ranges for its Scopes 1 and a couple of emissions by 30% by 2030. It’s 23% of the way in which there now.
It additionally set a aim to chop its Scope 3 emissions by 15% by 2030. It’s 11% of the way in which there now, achieved, partly, by ceasing crude processing at three petroleum refineries; one refinery has been transformed to renewable diesel manufacturing.
Scope 1 refers to inner operations, Scope 2 is linked to the fuels its buys from others, and Scope 3 is tied to its provide chain.
“We function with an understanding of the potential environmental impacts of our enterprise. This understanding informs our dedication to decrease the carbon depth of our operations and the merchandise we manufacture, bettering the vitality effectivity of our operations, and advance practices that preserve pure assets,” the corporate’s annual sustainability report says.
“We attempt to be a market chief within the manufacturing and supply of renewable fuels, search methods to broaden using renewable vitality in our operations, and deploy rising applied sciences that scale back environmental impression whereas enhancing enterprise efficiency,” it concludes.
Power effectivity is crucial to its technique: Its “Deal with Power: program helped the corporate keep away from the equal of two billion Btu’s per hour of vitality use — the quantity of vitality utilized by 100,000 houses.
In the meantime, the corporate strives to scale back waste via vitality restoration and recycling. It says that since 2013, about 103,000 tons of waste emanating from its refineries have been reworked into various fuels for the cement trade. That has prevented 248,000 tons of CO2-equivalent emissions.
It additionally works with corporations to reclaim metals, diverting them from landfills. The partnerships recuperate and recycle metals, together with cobalt, copper, molybdenum, platinum, and vanadium.
How Marathon Offers with Biodiversity and Water
Marathon Petroleum strives to handle and monitor water use all through its operations — crucial to sourcing free water in water-stressed areas within the U.S. It set a companywide goal to scale back freshwater withdrawal depth by greater than 20% by 2030 from 2016 ranges. It’s 15% of the way in which there now.
Water is central to refining, main Marathon to supply from rivers, lakes, wells, and municipal water vegetation. However the firm’s gasoline processing vegetation are designed to make use of little or no water. Practically all of these vegetation have scorching oil heaters that burn gas gasoline. Its refining services can reuse water. The water may also be handled and recycled. “Our methods are arrange for under absolutely handled water to be discharged to a floor physique of water corresponding to a lake, river, or bay in order that the standard of those waters is maintained.”
It additionally has a complete program to enhance air high quality by producing cleaner fuels, lowering pure gasoline flaring, and minimizing fugitive emissions.
To that finish, it goals to chop methane emissions depth 75% beneath 2016 ranges by 2030 throughout its pure gasoline gathering and processing operations. Moreover, between 2002 and 2021, it says it decreased its “standards pollution” by 54% even whereas its refining and pure gasoline belongings grew. It invested $1 billion to attain these air pollution cuts.
Furthermore, “In 2022, we’re allocating vital progress capital to renewables, together with changing our Martinez, California, refinery to a renewable fuels facility. When full, the Martinez Renewable Fuels facility will probably be bigger than any renewable diesel manufacturing facility working within the U.S. in the present day whereas producing roughly 60% much less GHG emissions per yr than its prior operations,” says Michael Hennigan, chief govt, within the firm’s annual sustainability report.
Defending the pure habitat and wildlife is a precedence. It engages stakeholders, conducts environmental impression critiques, and determines mitigation initiatives. Some steps it takes:
— Incorporating species preservation into operational approaches.
— Growing our development schedules to keep away from disrupting species migration, spawning, and nesting.
— Restoring all disturbed areas to pre-construction circumstances by seeding/hydroseeding with native seed mixes.
— Monitoring wetland and waterway crossing websites on pipeline rights of solution to affirm they’re absolutely restored and functioning, and
— Coaching affected workers and contractors about biodiversity and sustaining belongings in delicate areas.
And spill prevention is on the top of its environmental and security listing. To that finish, it patrols its pipelines utilizing airplanes outfitted with specialised sensors that detect hydrocarbon spills. And it makes use of cameras to catch any spills, together with crude and extremely unstable liquids, at distant pipeline stations. And it began utilizing synthetic intelligence expertise at 45 extra services final yr.
It additionally makes use of sensors and meters to detect stream fee modifications or see if stress drops on its strains. In the meantime, it additionally educates landowners, first responders, and neighborhood companions about protected digging practices and emergency response.
“Our dedication to securely and responsibly working our belongings is crucial and elementary to our enterprise and to guard our workers, contractors, communities, and the surroundings. We assist this dedication via operational practices and expertise centered on a aim of zero spills.”
