FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE
2
23%
2020 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
71
APPENDIX
Of the 70 million tonnes of hydrogen produced today, the prevailing share comes from steam reforming, which uses a fossil source, namely natural gas. It is estimated that this type of ‘grey’ hydrogen,
CHAPTER 5
Hydrogen can be used in as many ways as there are applications for industry, mobility and public life. It is what is known as a “building block” of chemistry: a base product which can be used to create
Today, twenty years after Jeremy Rifkin’s farsighted and visionary projections, it seems the time might be ripe. Maire Tecnimont has developed its own strategy for hydrogen. The Maire Tecnimont Group has great experience in hydrogen technology, having completed more than 100 projects in the grey hydrogen sector. We are convinced that hydrogen will be one of the drivers of the energy transition, and that Italian technologies are at the forefront of this. We already have storage technologies, improved electrolysis technologies, and new technology platforms such as those offered by NextChem.
CHAPTER 4
It is estimated that by 2025, 23% of the energy in Europe will come from hydrogen. The European Union has launched its own strategy, demonstrating once again its intention to take a leading position on these issues, at global level. In Europe, forecasts indicate a total electrolysis capacity of 40GW by 2030, with 6,800 km of pipelines; that figure will rise to 23,000 by 2040 (75% of these pipelines will be converted gas networks).
CHAPTER 3
Our focus on “New Power” covers all these aspects: the electrification of processes, the production of renewables, the valorization of CO2 and the production of hydrogen are all areas in which the Maire Tecnimont Group intends to exploit its extensive experience in the Power sector and hydrogen production, to serve an industrial infrastructure based on non-fossil energy sources.
CHAPTER 2
One of the paradigms currently being talked about is the conversion of the energy system for industrial, transport and civil uses in which the use of low- or zero-hydrogen as a carrier is gaining ground, alongside the massive development of renewable-source electricity and the tactical use of natural gas as a co-player in the transition, accompanied by techniques for the capture and recovery of CO2.
more or less everything we see which alone accounts for about around us daily. Hydrogen can 75% of the world’s hydrogen prosupport the decarbonization of duction, is responsible, along with energy-intensive industries which that generated by coal, for almost lack scalable electrification solu3% of global CO2 emissions. This is because the carbon contained in tions. Two of these industries are the fossil source is directly discharchemicals and petroleum refining, ged into the atmosphere during where hydrogen is already used as the production cycle. For each kg a raw material, both in the producof hydrogen produced tion of basic chemicals from steam reforming, such as ammonia and BY 2025 10 kg of CO2 is released methanol (in Italy we into the atmosphere. If no longer have prodwe want to implement ucts of this type) but a fast-acting strategy also in all refining proto cut emissions, we cesses. Another sector OF THE ENERGY cannot wait many is the primary steel inIN EUROPE more years: we need a WILL COME FROM dustry, where hydrogradual strategy, whigen is the only zeHYDROGEN ch will involve not only ro-carbon alternative the implementation of to carbon in the prothe necessary infrastructure (on duction of direct reduced iron an international scale), but also (DRI), which can be progressively transitional solutions, which are used to avoid high CO2 emissions in blast furnaces. already available today.
CHAPTER 1
The decarbonization processes we need to put in place in order to limit the rise in the temperature of our planet require the modification and replacement of a vast number of plant engineering technologies, which were born in the past decades on the basis of feedstock of fossil origin. This is a true “industrial plant revolution” which is opening up enormous opportunities for innovation and for business.
INTRODUCTION
2.5 MAIRE TECNIMONT’S COMMITMENT TO A NEW HYDROGEN ECONOMY
