Norway’s Norsk Hydro has made the world’s first batch of aluminum using green hydrogen, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing a company statement. In a big milestone for global green manufacturing, Hydro partnered with hydrogen burner technology experts at Paris-based Fives North American Combustion company, to run a trial test replacing natural gas with green hydrogen for green aluminum production. The test — which will have its final report on the results published in the fall — was held at Fives’ extrusion plant in Navarra, Spain and is part of Hydro’s strategy to develop commercial fuel switch solutions, company CEO Christian Eriksen said. Aluminum is one of the world’s most energy-intensive industrial commodities to make, accounting for around 3% of the world’s direct industrial CO2 emissions.

A stake sale in Eni’s renewables business? Italian energy giant Eni has ramped up negotiations with a number of investors over the potential sale of a minority stake in its renewables and retail unit Plenitude, Reuters reported last week, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. Two of the sources said Eni is working on offloading between 5-15% of Plenitude, with the transaction possibly being executed before August. The talks come months after preliminary talks began between Eni and Norway’s HitecVision over a stake sale, but the potential sale never materialized. The sale of a minority stake in Plenitude would give the company a value and help revive plans for a future listing. Sources say a new bid to list the company could begin at the end of 2023 or 2024. The revival would come months after Eni shelved IPO plans for Plenitude in June 2022 due to unfavorable market conditions.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

  • UK fund manager Legal and General Investment Management added aviation giant Air China and multinational shipping company Cosco Shipping Holdings to the list of 342 firms subject to voting sanctions as a result of their “poor climate change standards.” Its investment blacklist now applies to funds with nearly USD 200 bn in assets. (Bloomberg)
  • US President Joe Biden vetoed a measure approved by Congress to overturn his administration's new limits on emissions from heavy-duty trucks. The measure is 80% more stringent than current standards. (Reuters)
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