Industry leaders discuss emissions reduction technologies at Gastech 2023

(WO) – At the third day of Gastech 2023, senior ministers, business leaders, and global climate specialists reached consensus on the steps required to develop new solutions to reduce carbon emissions and accelerate climate technologies. Participants agreed that globally, a clearer picture of the transformative potential of climate technologies is emerging, with new infrastructure promising to mitigate emissions being brought to market.

Gastech has expanded its 2023 edition to include a Climatetech exhibition and conference program, bringing together established energy players, policy analysts, investors, and technology innovators. 

The day began with a set of in-depth discussions on carbon capture and storage and its potential to accelerate and transform capabilities at a global scale. According to data from the Global CCS Institute, last year Europe and the U.S. were on track to sequester just 1.5-2.0% of their current emissions by 2030, falling short of what is required by 2035 to meet the 1.5˚C pathway. Throughout the panel, speakers discussed the scale of momentum behind the technology, and the impact that a more favorable regulatory environment would have on the development of the technology. 

Speaking on the panel, Paul Everingham, Chief Executive Officer Asia Natural Gas & Energy Association (ANGEA), said, “There will not be an orderly transition in Asia without natural gas and carbon capture. The big challenge, especially for heavy emitting North Asian heavy countries, is storage. We are going to invest significant funds in doing a detailed study on a framework for the Asia-Pacific region that looks at carbon capture, carbon storage, carbon transport, and carbon pricing. Using that, we can give certainty to financiers and engineers to implement the scheme.”

Laura Leonard, President, Technology Solutions, Worley, commented, “Worley's mission is to deliver sustainability to the world and carbon capture is a critical part of our path to net zero. Because of that, we are focusing our efforts on enabling carbon capture to become a reality. The good news is that the technology is ready now, and proven. We need to be deploying the technology that can drive down the costs for carbon capture.”

Climatetech was also the focus of a major Global Business Panel later in the morning between innovators and investors, encouraging the development, deployment and diffusion of critically important solutions to tackle the critical issue of emissions reduction. Concerns were raised around how one third of methane emissions comes from the energy sector. Yet, methane, which is just one piece of the puzzle, is considered more than 25 times as potent at trapping heat in the atmosphere compared with CO2. Across the panel, it was recognized that the successful adoption of emissions abatement solutions will require supportive policy frameworks and cross-industry collaboration to enable Climatetech breakthroughs.

Addressing the audience, Jane Toogood, Chief Executive, Catalyst Technologies, Johnson Matthey and UK Government Hydrogen Champion, said, “We have solutions around technologies today – such as hydrogen, sustainable fuels – and need to make sure that we are deploying technology at scale. Scaling is definitely one of the things we need to get on with. Currently, we have an opportunity to decarbonize existing assets. Methanol is there, but e-methanol is not. Those technologies exist today, so there is no issue in deploying them. Looking ahead, our focus needs to be scaling up for the future.”

During an official signing ceremony, the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonization (GCMD) and the Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel (SGMF) signed a two-year Coalition Partnership agreement towards developing global guidelines on the use of ammonia as a marine fuel. Further, Allied Green Ammonia Pty. Ltd. Australia and Tecnicas Reunidas signed a Project Development agreement to develop a landmark, 100% green ammonia plant in Australia that will produce 165,000 tons of green hydrogen a year, which will in turn serve as feedstock to generate 912,500 tons of green ammonia a year. In addition, Woodside Energy signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Japanese electricity generator Kansai Electric Power company to lock in third party carbon dioxide supply for its future carbon capture and storage projects in Australia.

The Gastech 2024 Handover Ceremony took place, where the location for next year’s conference was announced as Houston, Texas.

Other panels on Gastech 2023’s third day included spotlight sessions on decarbonizing shipping and increasing LNG supply resilience. The event, which has 40,000 registered visitors, features a line-up of more than 600 speakers during the four-day show, including Rt. Hon. Boris Johnson, former Prime Minister of the UK, H.E. Dr Tan See Leng, Singapore’s Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry, and H.E. Tarek El Molla, Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.