Page 44 - Gi flipbook June/July 2018

IGEM NEWS | Events

THE TRANSITION TO

A GREEN ECONOMY

By Sharon Baker-Hallam, Gi Editor generated from farm and dairy waste. The final presenter of the evening
“Eighty per cent of the water we was Bethan Winter, of Wales & West
IS THE DECARBONISATION industry use is recycled,” said Jason. “We Utilities, who spoke about her
poised to become the next industrial encourage our milk suppliers to pay to networks’ response to the ‘Beast from
revolution? support our renewable pillars. We the East’ cold snap, earlier this year.
The answer to this question and have done a lot of work to protect Despite mild winters in recent years,
many others were sought at the IGEM the natural beauty of the area in gas demand in on 1 March almost
South West Section’s Greendustrial which we work. Environmentalists doubled on the previous week due to
Revolution event, held at Bristol’s used to look like tree-huggers, but widespread snow and freezing
Holiday Inn Filton, on 25 April. they look like us now.” temperatures.
After the introductions from Section Andy Lewis of Cadent, was next to Aggravated by a perfect storm of
Chair Pip Wrenn, Chris Williams of speak, presenting the gas distribution supply losses, National Grid was
TATA Steel took to the stage to talk network’s work in hydrogen. As forced to issue a gas deficit warning
about some of the ground-breaking reported in Gi, The Liverpool- (GDW) for the first time since 2008.
work his company is doing in the CCS Manchester Hydrogen Cluster Unsurprisingly, the price of gas
and heat recovery spheres. project is a conceptual study to skyrocketed, said Bethan. Wales &
The £24-million FLEXIS project, led by develop a practical and economic West Utilities experienced more than
Cardiff University, is bringing together framework to introduce hydrogen three times the usual number of
expertise to facilitate an affordable, into the gas network in this region. alarms and five times the number of
sustainable, and socially acceptable Meanwhile, Cadent’s HyNet project faults were raised. However, the gas
transition to a low carbon future. promises to reduce carbon emissions networks coped valiantly despite the
As part of the project, a by more than one million tonnes abnormal conditions.
demonstration site has been identified every year, or the equivalent of Following a lively Q&A session,
in the Swansea Bay area, centred at taking 600,000 cars off the road. IGEM Past President and Section
the TATA Steel Works in Port Talbot, Hydrogen, said Andy, has the Vice-Chair Chris Clarke thanked the
to act as a test bed for new ideas and potential to be a low-carbon speakers for their presentations and
to showcase the technology and substitute for gas, not just in the issued each of them with a
energy solutions being developed. networks, but in transport and as a commemorative souvenir.
Next, Jason Fewell, of cheese driver for carbon capture utilisation Thanks must go to the event’s
manufacturer Wyke Farms, spoke and storage (CCUS) expansion. sponsors: ALH Systems, Aquam, AVK,
about his company’s goal to create a “If we are going to do CCUS in a big Caldervale Technology, Green Frog
sustainable working farm, harnessing way in the 2030s, we are going to Gas Utilities, ICS Consulting, Morrison
natural resources to source electricity have to do something in the 2020s to Utility Services, Rush Construction
and gas from both solar and biogas prove it,” he added. Services, Steve Vick International and

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