WPC 2026: Chemical leaders look to technology, more flexible regulations in drive to sustainability

This content is part of a series exploring key themes from the World Petrochemical Conference by S&P Global being held in Houston from March 23-27.

As the chemicals and energy sectors face pressure to decarbonize without impacting profitability, the chemical sector is looking to advanced technologies and greater regulatory flexibility to reshape its strategies, panelists said March 24 at the WPC.

Newer sustainability processes are expensive at the beginning, "but eventually it is cheaper. [...] You must work with first adopters to lower the cost curve," said Jennifer Holmgren, CEO at LanzaTech.

Being ahead of the curve can open new avenues for growth and sustainability. For instance, there is a premium to making sustainable aviation fuel from new biological process that convert waste carbon into ethanol compared to making it through industrial gases, Holmgren explained, but as demand grows these projects become increasingly viable.

This technology can also provide benefits when considering it allows companies to shield themselves from volatile upstream costs. "Part of the beauty in renewables is they decouple us from commodities, they are completely decoupled from oil and gas," Holmgren said.

Oil prices have risen substantially in the past few weeks due to the war in the Middle East. Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed WTI at Cushing at $93.25/b on March 24, up by $26.23/b from Feb. 27.

Pragmatism and flexible frameworks

Other industry leaders also pushed for a "more pragmatic" approach to sustainability efforts.

Companies shouldn't shy away from using existing technologies to enhance their sustainability efforts, said Debalina Sengupta, assistant vice president of the Energy Transition Institute at the University of Houston.

"Look for technologies that can be used, at low costs, that are already in place. And only then can we integrate the processes that are new and costly. We shouldn't discard other pathways to favor the most sophisticated technologies," she said.

Sengupta also mentioned that flexibility is needed when applying sustainability initiatives, as "not all the geographies are equal. Waste reduction might be the end target, but you have to let companies choose the technology on how they achieve it.".

"We need to expand the concept of circularity," said Walmir Soller Ferreira, CEO of Braskem Netherlands, in an interview with Platts, part of S&P Global Energy.

"A minimum threshold of recycled material or emissions reduction is difficult to adopt. If you have more flexibility, you can make adoptions easier. The problem in Europe is that regulation is too precise, too specific. There is no unique solution, we need to look at a combination of factors, a framework with built-in flexibility," he said