Exxon Mobil going green

ANTWERP, Belgium, March 23 (UPI) -- Exxon Mobil launched a high-efficiency power plant Monday at a Belgian refinery that lowers emissions as much as if 90,000 cars were taken off European roads.

Exxon Mobil at its refinery in Antwerp inaugurated its newest cogeneration plant with the capability of using the heat generated from the production of electricity for other industrial purposes.

The Antwerp project brings total capacity for Exxon Mobil's cogeneration facilities to roughly 4,600 megawatts, which is enough to meet the power demands for 5 million European homes, the company said.

The refinery in Antwerp is the second-largest for Exxon Mobil in Europe. Its capacity is about 305,000 barrels per day.

Sherman Glass, president of Exxon Mobil Refining and Supply, touted the efficiency of the cogeneration technology and subsequent reduction in harmful gas emissions.

"With the latest technology, cogeneration is significantly more efficient than traditional methods of producing steam and power separately," he said. "This results in lower operating costs and significantly less greenhouse-gas emissions."

The European Union in 2008 unveiled a strategy to reduce emissions 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.