Partner Country Italy - Italienisches Institut für Außenhandel

ENERGY Solutions
“Along with Petroleum”
– a programme for the future
In 2007, eni has launched “Along with Petroleum”, a research and technological development programme, focussing on the conversion
of solar energy and the production of biofuels from non-food biomass. Text: Carlo Perego
O
ver 80 percent of the
world’s consumption of
primary energy is currently
guaranteed by fossil sources
such as oil, coal and natural gas. In the
future, likely for several decades, these
sources will continue to guarantee a
large portion of the world’s energy demand.
All these fossil sources have
some environmental impacts and discharge
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,
although in different quantities.
Nuclear energy and hydroelectric energy,
whose impact is lower in terms
Dr. Carlo Perego is Senior Vice
President of the Donegani Institute
– the eni research centre for nonconventional
energy
of greenhouse gases emissions, satisfy
about eight percent of world energy
demand. The traditional biomasses assure
an additional ten percent of the
world’s energy consumption. The excessive
dependence on fossil energy,
even if easily accessible, flexible and
at acceptable price, will be not sustainable
for the future of our planet.
Finding a solution to this problem represents
a requirement to survival and
long term prosperity to the Oil and Gas
industry, and only scientific and technological
research can actually provide
effective answers. These are the
reasons why eni, starting from 2006,
chose to put technology innovation at
the core of its sustainable growth strategies.
eni has spotted ten key technological
platforms with high priority as
far as investment for future business
development is concerned. These platforms
involve core sectors (oil and gas
exploration, production, transportation,
and production of high performing
fuels with low environmental impact)
renewable energies (solar energy
and biomasses) as well as environmental
sustainability of operating activities.
At present, renewable energy provide
little contribution to the world energy
offer. This is due to the fact that the
technologies presently available only
allow for limited production of energy
at high prices. For example, solar energy
satisfies less than one percent of
global energy needs and the production
cost of energy from photovoltaic plants
is several times higher than the one in
gas or oil-fuelled plants.
The availability of innovative technologies
for the exploitation of alternative
energy sources will provide a fundamental
answer to the need of a world
that asks for increasing energy, but
cannot afford it unless it is clean.
In 2007 eni has launched the “Along
with Petroleum” Program. Besides
eni has defined a new mission for the
Donegani Institute in Novara, which
became eni’s Research Centre for the
development of technologies in the
field of non-conventional energy – giving
its new name “The Donegani Institute
– the eni research centre for
non-conventional energy‘. The centre’s
activities are focused on the R&D
programme “Along with Petroleum”,
”The excessive dependence on fossil energy,
even if easily accessible, flexible and at
acceptable price, will be not sustainable
for the future of our planet.”
which aims to achieve technological
breakthroughs in the use of solar energy
and biomass.
eni is also committed to researching
technologies to reduce Co 2
emissions
and is therefore developing the Green-
House Gas project (GHG) for the injection
of CO 2
in depleted gas and oil fields.
SOLAR ENERGY
Solar energy can be considered the primary
energy source by excellence.
Its exploitation can be obtained
through direct conversion of light into
electric power (photovoltaic effect).
The basic components of photovoltaic
systems are solar cells made by a wafer
a few tenths of millimeter thick or by
a thin layer of semiconductor material
(e.g. silicon) only a few microns thick,
suitably treated. Presently, the cost of
power generation from photovoltaic
plants is still high (0.2-0.5 €/kWh).
In order to overtake the current limits of
solar energy exploitation, it is fundamental
to introduce technologies that can reduce
the quantity of silicon used, while
producing the same amount of energy,
and in the longer term to substitute silicon
with polymer or organic materials
whose production costs are significantly
lower, with performances comparable to
those of silicon whose conversion efficiency
reaches 20 percent.
Solar energy can also be exploited to
fuel power conventional thermodynamic
cycles.
In this case vast fields of mirrors are
used (taking up to 2-5 hectares for every
MW installed) so as to focalize the
reflected light onto apposite receiving
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HANNOVER MESSE 2010 PARTNER COUNTRY ITALY