Eni and Air Liquide have entered into a collaboration agreement aimed at evaluating decarbonisation solutions, concentrated on hard-to-abate industrial sectors, in the Mediterranean region of Europe. The two companies join forces by combining their consolidated skills and know-how to enable the capture, aggregation, transport and permanent storage of CO2.
The capture and sequestration of CO2 (CCS) is one of the fundamental tools in the decarbonisation process, especially for the most carbon-intensive industrial sectors, and will play a key role in achieving the important emission reduction targets set at European level in the scope of the Green Deal.
As part of the agreement, Eni and Air Liquide will collaborate to identify the hard-to-abate industries basins in this geographic area and will define the best possible configuration to develop a large-scale CCS program.
In particular, Air Liquide will develop competitive solutions to reduce CO2, leveraging its CCS initiatives underway in Northern Europe and its innovative proprietary CryocapTM technology capable of capturing up to 95% of CO2 emissions from industrial plants.
Eni, using its own experience in the exploitation and management of gas fields, will identify the most suitable permanent CO2 storage sites in the Mediterranean Sea.
Luigi Ciarrocchi, CCUS, Forestry and Agro-Feedstock Director of Eni, stated that “The goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 is a pillar of Eni's strategy. CCS is essential in the decarbonisation process, especially for industrial sectors with higher energy consumption and CO2 emissions. By helping to reduce emissions from the "hard-to-abbot" sectors, we aim to promote a process of environmental and at the same time economic and social sustainability, favoring the continuity of industrial activities, for example in the cement and steel sector, which they are fundamental for the Italian economy ".
Pascal Vinet, Senior Vice President and member of the Executive Committee of Air Liquide that oversees Europe Industries, said: “We are delighted to collaborate with Eni on this important decarbonisation initiative and to use our experience in CO2 management to concretely contribute to the reduction of industrial carbon emissions in Europe. Supporting the decarbonisation of the industry is one of the strategic pillars of Air Liquide, which is committed to addressing the urgency of climate change and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 ”.