Aware of the changing framework conditions in the energy sector, the hitherto dominant players are attempting to adapt to the new situation. At the beginning of November 2021, the German national mineral oil industry association (Mineralölwirtschaftsverband, MWV) and the national institute for heating and mobility (Institut für Wärme und Mobilität, IWO) announced that they wanted to work together from now on as the association en2x, officially Wirtschaftsverband Fuels und Energie eV, in order to, as they say, “accelerate the clean energy transition.” The name en2x derives from energy-to-X, that is, the conversion of a primary energy source into any other energy carrier for application or storage of that energy.
Dr. Fabian Ziegler, Managing Director at Shell Germany, was chosen to be president of the managing board. He explained, “The future of fuels and energy must be greenhouse gas-neutral. In order to achieve this goal, an extensive transformation process is necessary, which we as an association want to help shape… Whether CO2-neutral hydrogen, alternative fuels, new products for the chemical industry or charging stations with electricity from renewable energies at the gas station, the current mineral oil industry wants to make new offers to its customers and renew the range of services to be sustainable.”
The vice president of en2x is Wolfgang Langhoff, Chief Executive Officer of BP Europa. The two chief executives are former MWV manager Dr. Christian Küchen and former IWO manager Adrian Willig.