Brenntag, the market leader in chemical distribution, has appointed Christian Kohlpaintner CEO, effective 1 January 2020. He will succeed Steven Holland, who announced earlier that he would leave Brenntag on that date. Kohlpaintner was until 30 June an executive committee member at Clariant.
Kohlpaintner has held various management positions at multinational companies, including Celanese, Chemische Fabrik Budenheim—where he became CEO—and the former Hoechst. He joined Clariant in 2009 as an executive committee member, based in Switzerland. His most recent responsibilities included Clariant’s business in Asia and he was based in China.
“With Christian Kohlpaintner, we have been able to place as our new CEO an internationally experienced business leader with a proven track record,” says Stefan Zuschke, chairman of Brenntag’s supervisory board. “He has demonstrated impressively that he can lead and develop major business divisions and companies successfully.”
Holland has worked at Brenntag for almost 14 years, more than eight of which as CEO. The company generated 2018 sales of €12.6 billion ($14.8 billion).
By Ian Young
Source: Chemical Week
France has launched an offshore green hydrogen production platform at the country’s Port of Saint-Nazaire this week, along with its first offshore wind farm. The hydrogen plant, which its operators say is the world’s first facility of its type, coincides with the launch of another “first of its kind” facility in Sweden dedicated to storing hydrogen in an underground lined rock cavern (LRC).
The project sets up the Hydrogen Valley in Rome, the first industrial-scale technological hub for the development of the national supply chain for the production, transport, storage and use of hydrogen for the decarbonization of industrial processes and for sustainable mobility.
At first glance, hydrogen seems to be the perfect solution to our energy needs. It doesn’t produce any carbon dioxide when used. It can store energy for long periods of time. It doesn’t leave behind hazardous waste materials, like nuclear does. And it doesn’t require large swathes of land to be flooded, like hydroelectricity. Seems too good to be true. So…what’s the catch?
