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Industrial Symbiosis Applied to Oil Refineries: Drivers and Barriers

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Quality Innovation and Sustainability (ICQUIS 2022)

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Abstract

Oil refineries play an important role in the economy, mainly in the transport and energy sectors; however, they are energy-intensive industries and responsible for a significant amount of waste and carbon dioxide emissions. Industrial symbiosis can contribute significantly to increasing the sustainability of this sector, as it allows entities that are traditionally separate, to cooperate with each other in sharing resources and allows waste valorization. Thus, this article aims to analyze the main drivers, barriers, and challenges that this industry faces when implementing and developing industrial symbiosis. To this end, an exhaustive survey of published case studies of industrial symbiosis with refineries was conducted to analyze the economic activities involved, the type of flow and the role of refineries as source or sink. The study showed that despite the challenges that this sector has to face for the implementation and development of industrial symbiosis, there are numerous possibilities for its realization.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Viseu, Portugal

    Ângela Neves, Hugo Ferreira & Francisco J. Lopes

  2. UNIDEMI, Faculty of Science and Technology (FCT), Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal

    Radu Godina

  3. GOVCOPP, Unidade de Investigação em Governança, Competitividade e Políticas Públicas, Campus Universitário de Santiago, Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    João C. O. Matias

Authors
  1. Ângela Neves
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  2. Hugo Ferreira
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  3. Francisco J. Lopes
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  4. Radu Godina
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  5. João C. O. Matias
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ângela Neves .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    João Carlos de Oliveira Matias

  2. Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Carina Maria Oliveira Pimentel

  3. Industrial Engineering and Management, Universidade Lusófona, Lisbon, Portugal

    João Carlos Gonçalves dos Reis

  4. Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Joana Maria Costa Martins das Dores

  5. School of Superior Design, Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave, Barcelos, Portugal

    Gilberto Santos

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Neves, Â., Ferreira, H., Lopes, F.J., Godina, R., Matias, J.C.O. (2023). Industrial Symbiosis Applied to Oil Refineries: Drivers and Barriers. In: de Oliveira Matias, J.C., Oliveira Pimentel, C.M., Gonçalves dos Reis, J.C., Costa Martins das Dores, J.M., Santos, G. (eds) Quality Innovation and Sustainability. ICQUIS 2022. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12914-8_21

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