The chemical manufacturing unit of Malaysian state energy firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd, or Petronas, plans to spend roughly $6 billion over the next 15 to 20 years to expand its specialty chemicals portfolio through acquisitions and partnerships, its chief executive said on Monday.
The budget is part of Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd’s efforts to make the high-margin specialty chemicals unit a central part of the company’s business, Chief Executive Sazali Hamzah said in an interview with Reuters at the Asia Oil & Gas Conference.
“By doing that we are going to diversify our portfolio and our dependency on crude and gas will be a lot less,” Sazali said.
By A. Ananthalakshmi and Florence Tan
Source: Reuters
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?
