2024 ESG Report FINAL - Report - Page 27
Environment
Reducing, Reusing, Recycling and Repurposing
For Valero, being the most ef昀椀cient and reliable operator in a highly competitive industry means being a better
environmental performer. We look for ways to reduce emissions and waste, reusing energy and byproducts,
recycling materials and repurposing wastes.
• Flare-Gas Recovery Systems Resulted in More
Than 96% Flaring-Free Operations: Nearly 80%
of Valero’s large process 昀氀ares are equipped
with 昀氀are-gas recovery systems. These systems
reduce 昀氀aring and air pollution, and recover fuel
gases, which are used to 昀椀re heaters and boilers,
reducing natural gas consumption.
• Sulfur Removal: Sulfur recovered in
re昀椀ning processes is used for a variety of
bene昀椀cial purposes, including crop fertilizer,
pharmaceuticals, detergents and cosmetics.
Sulfuric acid is also critical for the extraction of
nickel, cobalt and rare earth minerals from their
ores.
• Marine Vapor Recovery Units: At certain re昀椀neries,
captured vapors generated when loading vessels
with gasoline and other light products are routed
back to the re昀椀nery for reprocessing.
• Fuel from Oil Waste: Our high-conversion
re昀椀neries are capable of upgrading oil waste into
high-value fuel and products.
Re昀椀nery Energy Intensity43
• Wastewater Management: Process water and
stormwater are managed at our wastewater
treatment plants. We use bacteria to digest
oil and treat wastewater streams to clean the
water before returning it to the ecosystem.
• Energy Ef昀椀ciency Initiatives: We prioritize
improvements in process monitoring and
control systems to reduce energy consumption,
which in turn reduces costs and carbon
emissions.
• Repurposing of Material Recovered from Tank
Cleaning: Recovered material is reprocessed in
our re昀椀neries and upgraded to fuels and other
products or used as fuel at third-party facilities,
avoiding land昀椀ll waste.
• Water Recycling: With innovative approaches,
we use each gallon of water on average more
than 16 times prior to evaporation or return to
the environment.
As a result of re昀椀nery optimization, started more than 10 years
ago, Valero's re昀椀nery energy usage per barrel has declined
over time with capital investments, including 昀氀are-gas
recovery and other energy ef昀椀ciency projects.
(Million Btu/bbl throughput)
0.44
0.38
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
Environmental, Social and Governance Report •
27
