Sotacarbo – Società Tecnologie Avanzate Low Carbon S.p.A. – was established on April 2nd 1987, as the implementation of art. 5 of the Italian law 351/85 “Norme per la riattivazione del bacino carbonifero del Sulcis”, whose main aim was to exploit coal through the development of advanced clean coal technologies. The natural evolution of Sotacarbo’s research led towards the study and implementation of a broader range of low-carbon technologies for electricity generation from fossil fuels and renewable sources.
The attention to the environment and the fight against climate change issues require great additional efforts in the development of useful technologies for the reduction of the pollutant gases, especially carbon dioxide. The diffusion of the technologies related to the use of renewable energy sources is a necessary condition, but yet it is not sufficient for the achievement of the target. Fossil fuels, due to their wide availability and low cost, are going to continue to play an important role in the global energy mix, mainly in the emerging economies such as China, India, Southeast Asian countries and Brazil. In this scenario, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies play a vital role in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
The shareholders are the Sardinian Regional Administration and ENEA (The Italian national agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development).