“Stopping the sale of Borealis’ fertilizer division was a good decision,” said Minister of Agriculture Elisabeth Köstinger (VP) in an interview with OÖ Nachrichten. As reported, Borealis stopped the planned sale of the old Agrolinz to the Russian group EuroChem after the majority owner – a Russian oligarch – was put on the sanctions list. According to Köstinger, the matter was also an issue at the federal government level. As part of the Investment Protection Act, it would probably also have been officially posted there. Apparently this was done informally beforehand.
“A third of the fertilizers in Europe come from the Ukraine. The same applies to protein feed. That has an effect on prices,” says Köstinger. A sale to Russia would have limited the scope.
storing hydrogen
A plant in Upper Austria, which Köstinger, the minister responsible for mining, visited in Gampern yesterday, promises less dependence on Russian gas. RAG’s extensive “Underground Sun Storage” research project is intended to enable the large-volume storage of hydrogen in the border area between Upper Austria and Salzburg. “The technology itself is not new. It is now relevant to make this form of energy storage marketable,” says Köstinger. Green hydrogen can be combined with CO2 to produce climate-neutral methane. This can be done both above and below ground. Alongside OMV, RAG is the country’s largest storage operator and is also collaborating with Fronius on this research project.
Source: Nachrichten
