Stepan Company announced today that F. Quinn Stepan, the Chairman of the Company, will retire from the position of Chairman effective as of December 31, 2016.
Mr. Stepan has served as Chairman since 1984, and previously served as Chief Executive Officer of the Company from November 1984 to December 2005. The Board of Directors unanimously appointed F. Quinn Stepan, Jr., the Company’s President and CEO and a director, to succeed Mr. Stepan as Chairman, effective upon his retirement. Mr. Stepan will continue to serve as a member of the Board of Directors. The Company also announced that Edward J. Wehmer will serve as Lead Independent Director, effective upon Mr. Stepan’s retirement.
“My father’s incredible passion for Stepan Company over the past 55 years has been instrumental to our Company’s profitable growth and expansion,” said F. Quinn Stepan, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer. “Working with Stepan employees throughout the world to provide innovative solutions for customers and to build a global manufacturing network to deliver them, my father generated significant value for our shareholders. We are grateful for his leadership and his contributions to our past and future growth.”
Source: Stepan
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?
