We are delighted to present our 2-day programme to you. Please note this is subject to change.
Information is being added regularly so do come back!
Please note timings are BST, please add 1 hour for European, CET.
Day 1 - 25 May 2021
09:30 - 10:00
Keynote Address
Future Energy - Challenges For The Regulator
David Simmonds, Former GPA E Chairperson
The GPA E does not get involved directly with regulations, especially as these vary by country. However, as we move forward with decarbonisation, there are a number of counteracting drivers which make decision taking on Future Energy (renewable energy (wind/solar), nuclear, continued fossil fuel utilisation under controlled conditions, biomass and intermediates such as hydrogen) more complex and challenging. Scientists, economists, business managers and environmentalists often bring their own specialist knowledge to the table without having a wider appreciation of these challenges.
The paper will first briefly look at the existing energy market, then it will explore some of the new technologies which are being developed and review aspects such as customer acceptance, safety, delivery flexibility and resilience. It will conclude with an assessment of some of the factors which are required to be in place actually to deliver our future Energy Transition Plan, such as the availability of trained resources to deploy it and the ability to finance it!
The intention is to provide a broader picture for transition experts to consider before they inform Regulators and Policy Makers. The paper will conclude that there is no silver bullet for the Energy Transition and, if we are to achieve Net Zero, we will likely have to furrow multiple pathways, which will extend well beyond 2050, and we will need to maximise synergies between technologies. Frankly, Regulators and Policy Makers should not be looking at ‘either/or’, but ‘all’! Further, given the global reach of energy demands, many of these considerations must be addressed through international collaboration and standardisation.
Session 1: Hydrogen
10:00 - 10:30
Hydrogen value chain analysis comparing different transport vectors: Using Liquid Hydrogen, LNG, Ammonia and Methylcyclohexane as energy carriers between Qatar and the UK
Nicola Chodorowska
Managing Consultant, Specialist Engineering and Consulting
Wood
Meeting the anticipated ten-fold increase in hydrogen requirements by 2050 has led to many studies evaluating the most techno-economic means to achieve this target. Whilst fully green large scale value chains are still some way off there is adequate hydrocarbon infrastructure in place where blue hydrogen could be produced. This paper assesses the options to convert a portion of the LNG supply chain already in place between Qatar and the UK into blue hydrogen and the different transport vectors to convey the hydrogen. Transporting the hydrogen as liquid or in the form of ammonia or other Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHC) such as methylcyclohexane are common comparisons, however retaining LNG as the energy carrier should also be considered.
It is shown with currently available technology that LNG as the transport vector is economic compared to ammonia and LOHC with liquid hydrogen still somewhat more expensive.
10:30 - 11:00
Technologies to Decarbonise Hydrogen Production
Speaker: Roland van Uffelen
Authors: Hans Brasker and Roland van Uffelen
Technip Energies
The challenges of the energy transition require addressing long-term solutions for reduction of carbon emissions to the atmosphere by addressing the needs for generation, storage and utilization of future energy sources.
Blue hydrogen is expected to pave the way for the future low-carbon energy solutions. Cost-effective, deeply decarbonized blue hydrogen production is available and proven today at the desired scale for both new plants and retrofits, and provides immediate solutions for carbon capture, handling and utilization. In projects converting grey to blue hydrogen plants, flue gas capture may be an attractive option for deep carbon capture and is expected to be more cost effective compared to traditional CCS applications where CO2 content in the flue gas is lower.
The paper will address the carbon intensity of various hydrogen production methods, from traditional grey hydrogen through blue hydrogen, at various capture rates, as well as the production of hydrogen in electrolysers.
11:00 - 11:15 BREAK & VIRTUAL NETWORKING
11:15 - 11:45
Green Ammonia Synthesis and its use as an Energy Vector
Dr Laura Torrente
University of Cambridge
When Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch developed an artificial nitrogen fixation process (the so-called Haber-Bosch process), they put ammonia in the centre of the first chemical global revolution, enabling the expansion of the population with its use as fertilisers and setting the current geo-political borders with its use in explosives. This webinar will present the technological, environmental and political challenges to enable a second ammonia revolution as portable long-term (days to months) energy storage vector versus the short-term storage (seconds to hours) offered by electrochemical storage (i.e. batteries).
Indeed, the future of a carbon-free society relies on the alignment of the intermittent production of renewable energy (solar, wind, tidal, geothermal) with our continuous and increasing energy demands. In this context, ammonia offers unique opportunities due its high hydrogen content, known handling and existing infrastructure. If/when realised, green ammonia can reshape the current energy landscape by directly replacing fossil fuels in transportation, heating, electricity, etc. In addition, new economic opportunities will arise as many countries will inevitably become net-energy importers/exporters with the outlook of a renewable energy market similar to the current one based on fossil fuels.
11:45 - 12:15
Gulf Energy Information Global Data Trends
John Royall
President & CEO
Gulf Energy Information
12:15 - 13:30 LUNCH & VIRTUAL NETWORKING
Session 2: Workshop
“Transition of the Gas Industry from Today to 20-25 years”
13:30 - 14:10
Workshop Introduction / Presentation – available for all attendees
Moderator: Adrienne Blume, Gulf Energy Information
Speaker: Xianfang Ren, Shell Global Solutions
14:10 – 16:30
Workshop Think Tanks – prebooked attendees only, 40 spaces
Day 2 - 26 May 2021
09:30 - 10:00
Keynote Address
Northern Lights – developing the world’s first open-source CO2 transport and storage infrastructure
Jean-Francois CAM, Integration and Stakeholder Manager
Equinor ASA
Northern Lights is developing the world’s first open-source CO2 transport and storage infrastructure. We deliver carbon dioxide storage as a service. Our aim is to help industrial emitters manage emissions that cannot be avoided in other ways from reaching the atmosphere and to provide a safe and permanent storage option for CO2 that is removed from the air. We are part of a growing movement to actively manage the carbon cycle and get it back in balance. As we develop our business, we will share, listen and encourage innovation and technology development. Northern Lights is a first – and we want to make it easy for others to follow.
Session 1: Carbon Capture, Utilisation & Storage
10:00 - 10:30
The Role of Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) in Decarbonisation
Dr Chet Biliyok
Petrofac
Renewables are now cost-effective, enjoying wide deployment, and commanding a large share of global energy investment. In light of this, is CCUS still required for decarbonisation, or is it simply a license for the oil industry to continue to operate?
In this paper, the role of CCUS in a zero-emissions future will be explored, and its contribution to decarbonisation will be clarified. This will be achieved by looking at:
- How a global market for CCUS will evolve;
- How CCUS technology is applied and what it will cost;
- What promising technology breakthroughs are in the pipeline; and
- What to expect for CCUS in the next decade and beyond.
Finally, the role that industrial entities like the GPA and its members can play in CCUS deployment will be addressed.
10:30 - 11:00
Carbon Capture, The First Step Towards Net Zero
Adya Deshmukh
Fluor Ltd
The UK Government’s Energy White Paper released in December 2020 acknowledged the importance of natural gas to the UK’s energy mix while emphasising the need to decarbonise the power, oil and gas industries. This presentation briefly explores the concept of Net Zero, capture processes and demonstrates the potential for carbon capture to provide a viable solution for the reduction of industrial greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon capture is an established, commercially proven technology that can be scaled up and rapidly deployed in both existing and new gas processing facilities to lower net greenhouse gases emissions. This will be demonstrated by analysing exemplary projects executed globally. Pre-combustion carbon capture can be used in the production of blue hydrogen. Post-combustion carbon capture units can be included in new designs and retrofitted to existing gas processing facilities allowing them to continue operating for the remainder of their operational lifetime with net zero carbon emissions.
11:00 - 11:15 BREAK & VIRTUAL NETWORKING
11:15 - 11:45
An Integrated Approach for Europe’s Industrial CCUS Projects
Brad Healey
Authors: Brad Healey, Ivan Gutierrez (both Oil & Gas Corrosion). Matt Healey (PACE Flow Assurance).
CO2 has been transported via pipelines for 50 years. The oil and gas industry has a wealth of experience in this area, gained as a need to dispose of acid gas, or as part of EOR. CO2 associated with hydrocarbon production has an exceptional level of purity. The engineering of industrial carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) projects requires a different approach. CCUS for CO2 of industrial origin has limited industry standards and documents of reference, and a large number of unknowns. Naturally, industrial CCUS presents a greater challenge than pure CO2 capture due to the level of impurities found in the systems. The impurities present have an effect on the fluid behaviour, and increases the demands for thermodynamic modelling to take into account cross associating components to accurately predict phase behaviour. Without accurate modelling, it is not possible to quantify the risks of corrosion. Due to their complexity, these projects require a multidiscipline, integrated, and cyclical approach with input from corrosion, flow assurance, and thermodynamic specialists in order to ensure successful and effective project completion. This presentation presents our multidisciplinary approach and the various challenges faced on the most advanced projects for industrial CCUS.
11:45 - 12:15
Offshore C-HubTM, a floating storage and injection facility for CO2 sequestration
Cyrille DECHIRON and Morvan FAVENNEC
Technip Energies
Technip Energies has developed, in the frame of several developments aiming at improving the attractivity of CO2 capture and sequestration, a new offshore concept allowing permanent CO2 sequestration from multiple CO2 emitters: the Offshore C-HubTM, a floating storage and injection facility.
The Offshore C-HubTM concept is built on Technip Energies long experience in offshore facilities concepts, offloading technologies and CO2 management system from downstream the capture up to its injection, including topside process and temporary storage.
The presentation will highlight key challenges related to the transport, storage and injection of CO2, and will detail the screening performed along with the solution proposed to allow a continuous, safe, adaptable and standard injection of CO2 for its permanent sequestration.
12:15 - 13:30 LUNCH & VIRTUAL NETWORKING
Session 2: Biogas
13:30 - 14:00
Scale-Up Options For Decarbonisation Of The Gas Grid - Can Biogas Be Part Of The Answer?
Speaker: Oliver Carter
Authors: Oliver Carter and Samantha Nicolson
Fluor
Currently UK annual production of biogas based on anaerobic digestion (AD) approaches 12 TWh, supplied by nearly 700 different plants, mostly for heat and power. The potential for biogas production has been estimated as 36 TWh based on current AD technology. This compares to UK natural gas annual demand of approximately 900 TWh.
While AD plays a key role in the agricultural, food and water industries and shows some promise for expansion, scaleup for gas applications is hindered by the diffuse availability of feedstocks, large reactor residence times and digestate volumes, and the economics of gas upgrading and injection. In order to significantly defossilise the natural gas grid, thermal processes offer larger scale feasible plant capacity and feedstock flexibility. Synthesis gas routes to renewable natural gas also offer the ability to achieve net negative CO2 emissions by use of CCS and/or green hydrogen.
Gasification of biomass and wastes presents challenges which can be addressed by careful selection of gasifier type. Commercial processes developed for methanation are also discussed along with overall plant configurations and advantages and disadvantages of different optimisation options. Demonstration projects and related processes currently in operation for thermal conversion of biomass to renewable natural gas are presented.
14:00 - 14:30
Is Waste as a Feedstock an Attractive Opportunity For Downstream Producers?
Ruby Ray
Wood
Can waste processing be integrated with existing downstream fuel and petrochemical technologies to assist with both waste management and climate change goals? A strategic shift to use clean technologies to reduce emissions is required to meet IPCC’s pledge to reach net zero GHG targets by 2050, to keep global warming below 1.5oC. Various types of waste pose a risk on climate change as well as health, pollution of land, air and water. Despite policies enforced by many countries worldwide to reduce waste generation, the total waste quantity generated is still growing at an unprecedented rate. In 2018, the World Bank estimated that waste generation will increase as much as 70% from 2.01 billion tonnes to 3.40 billion by 2050. Approximately 40% of waste generated worldwide is not managed properly and instead dumped or openly burned. Gasification, an advanced thermal treatment process (ATT), converts the carbonaceous fractions of various feedstocks into valuable gaseous product known as synthesis gas and has lower emissions and higher efficiencies than incineration technologies. The ability of gasification to produce a syngas from a wide range of waste feedstocks provides the opportunity to divert biodegradable waste from landfill and convert it to valuable renewable products, including power, synthetic natural gas (SNG), chemicals, liquid transport fuels and H2. These high value product routes can also be carbon negative while integrated with carbon capture providing opportunity to meet climate goals. In many countries, the economic incentives for any form of waste-to-energy plant have not been attractive compared to landfilling or mass burning. Government regulations and policy interventions combined with strict emission regulations are urgently required to decrease disposal of waste directly to landfill and to promote recycling and thermal treatment to valuable end use. Several other factors such as landfill tax, waste tipping fees, incentives associated with renewable products play critical role to make such waste to renewable product projects economically viable and attractive to investors. This paper will present a case study of waste processing options for integration into existing refinery/petrochemicals facilities and discuss the key challenges that need to be addressed to make this processing route and attractive opportunity.
14:30 - 14:45 BREAK & VIRTUAL NETWORKING
14:45 - 15:15
Presentation 14
TOTAL
15:15 - 15:45
Biogas and bioLNG solutions by Wärtsilä
Reetta K. Kaila, D. Sc.(Tech.)
Technology and Development Manager
Biogas Solutions - Wärtsilä Gas Solutions
All human activity creates waste. This waste can also be a valuable resource of renewable energy: excess agricultural products, manure, waste-water sludge, household and restaurant waste are perfect raw materials for biogas production.
Raw biogas can be upgraded to pure biomethane, which is compressed or liquified and used as a low carbon vehicle fuel (bioCNG/LNG) or injected into the gas grid providing renewable energy to both households and industry (Figure 1).
Figure 1. The biogas value chain from feedstock to fuel distribution.
The product portfolio of Wärtsilä Biogas Solutions consists today upgrading of raw biogas to biomethane and liquefaction of biomethane to bioLNG. Recent development in the biogas markets is reflected in the market segmentation into local and centralised units. Green Gas Certificate schemes open the possibility for larger centralized grid gas liquefaction plants near the off takers, whereas biogas upgrading is often located near the raw biogas producers. Such centralised bioLNG plants take advantage of the scale of economy and an existing infrastructure, which allows biogas collections from various point sources.
Wärtsilä Biogas Solutions has 20 years’ experience in the biogas sector and supports over 40 biogas upgrading plants operational in Europe today. The bioLNG plant in Norway owned by Biokraft AS is showing great example of circular economy by turning local fish industry and paper mill waste water into bioLNG that is utilised by the local city busses and the maritime industry. Indeed, the maritime industry is seen as a key player among the consumers of renewable, gaseous fuels in future having CO2 emission reduction targets of -50% (from 2008 levels by 2050) set by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). Long-term offtake contracts with ship owners or other end consumers will drive the biogas market development and more of centralised bioLNG plants will be seen already in coming years.
15:45 - 16:15
Workshop Feedback
16:15 - 16:30 Quiz, Chairperson's Remarks & Conference Close
