Architecture
The Global Chemicals Inventory, a joint effort from Global Energy Monitor and Spatial Finance Initiative, uses a two-level system for organizing information, consisting of both a database and wiki pages with further information. The database tracks individual chemical plants and includes information such as plant owner, location, operating status, primary and secondary chemical products, and feedstocks. A wiki page for each plant is created within GEM.wiki, and aims to contain more detailed, footnoted information such as plant history and ESJ issues.
Research Process
A preliminary list of chemical plants in each country/area was gathered from public and private data sources, including Spatial Finance Initiative’s Petrochemical Production Databases and data from various company and government sources. Data was included for chemical plants operating as of September 1, 2025. The data was then vetted against additional sources of information, listed below.
Chemical plant data is updated and maintained through five main sources:
- Corporate reports and data sources from chemical plant owner and parent companies
- Government data on individual refineries and chemical plants
- Reports by national and regional chemical industry groups
- News and media reports
- Reports from chemical technology manufacturers
Where possible, chemical plant data is circulated for review to researchers familiar with local conditions and languages. The Spatial Finance Initiative prepared the preliminary list of global ethylene and ammonia plants and also served as reviewers of the full list of global chemical plants. The Spatial Finance Initiative is hosted at the Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme at the University of Oxford.
Artificial Intelligence
The majority of research was completed through conventional internet searching and reviews of published datasets, reports, and news articles. AI tools including ChatGPT and DeepSeek were used to support and deepen these research efforts in the following ways:
- Search for information sources not found through conventional means.
- Identify and explain feedstock types.
- Summarize asset information for GEM wiki pages.
All information presented through the use of AI was vetted by human researchers for accuracy, with a focus on identifying miscommunication of reported information and hallucination of facts. In cases where AI-reported information was used, primary sources are linked. All text generated through AI was edited and drafted by GEM staff.
Wiki Pages
For each chemical plant, a wiki page is created on Global Energy Monitor’s GEM.wiki. Wiki pages provide a repository for plant details including plant owner, plant status, chemical product and feedstock information, and location (coordinates and map), as well as additional in-depth information that may include plant background, financing, environmental impacts, raw material sourcing, finished product uses, public opposition, and aerial photographs. Under standard wiki convention, all information is linked to a published reference, such as a news article, company or government report, or a regulatory permit. In order to ensure data integrity in the open-access wiki environment, Global Energy Monitor researchers review all edits of project wiki pages.
Operational Status
The November 2025 release of Global Energy Monitor and Spatial Finance Initiative’s Global Chemicals Inventory only includes plants that are operating as of September 1, 2025. An operating chemical plant is currently producing at least one of the eight tracked chemicals.
Chemical Product Categories
Primary products: This chemical product category includes any of the eight tracked chemicals produced on-site: ethylene, propylene, and butadiene (“olefins”); benzene, toluene, and xylene (“aromatics”); methanol; and ammonia. These chemical products are denoted as “Primary” even if they are consumed immediately downstream. In the few instances where the exact type of olefin or aromatic is unconfirmed, the primary product is listed as “olefins (unknown type)” or “aromatics (unknown type),” respectively.
Secondary products: This chemical product category includes any chemical other than the Primary products that are known to be made on-site (e.g., polyethylene, fertilizers, gasoline). These chemical products are denoted as “Secondary” even if they are the main economic product at the chemical plant, and are not comprehensive.
Feedstock Accuracy
The feedstock accuracy indicates the confidence level of the identified feedstock.
Exact: The plant’s feedstock is explicitly confirmed by a credible source, such as company reports or government data.
Assumed: The plant’s feedstock is inferred based on process type and/or region (e.g., steam methane reforming implies natural gas), but is not explicitly stated in publicly available documentation.
Unknown: No credible source is available to explicitly identify the plant’s feedstock or to serve as the basis for an assumption of the plant’s feedstock.
Mapping
To allow easy public access to the results, Global Energy Monitor worked with Earth Genome to develop a map-based and table-based interface. In the case of exact coordinates, locations have been visually determined using Google Maps, Google Earth, Planet Labs, or Wikimapia. If the location of a plant is not known, GEM identifies the closest approximate location.