Covestro has announced that CEO Patrick Thomas will retire on 31 May, “by mutual and amicable agreement.” The decision was made public on Friday by the company’s supervisory board. Thomas had been due to retire on 30 September 2018 and had informed the supervisory board that he “would not be available for a further term beyond 2018.”
The supervisory board announced in May 2017 that it had appointed Markus Steilemann to succeed Thomas as CEO and this appointment is now effective on 1 June. Steilemann is currently Covestro’s chief commercial officer. Covestro’s management board will consist of three members: Klaus Schäfer, whose contract was renewed in January 2018 until the end of 2022, and will continue as chief technology officer; Thomas Toepfer, who became Covestro’s CFO on 1 April; and Steilemann.
Thomas has been CEO of Covestro and its predecessor Bayer MaterialScience since 2007. He also took leading roles in industry associations such as Cefic, the World Plastics Council, and the German chemical trade association VCI. He was president of the PlasticsEurope association from 2011 until 2017.
By Michael Ravenscroft
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?
