Gas stream reflects on challenges and success
The gas stream covered economic and technical regulation, asset management, the role of gas in climate change solutions and customer end use.
Highlights from the presentations included industry stalwart and Natural Gas Vehicles Australia Executive Officer Ollie Clark. Mr Clark said Australia’s abundant supply of gas could provide a natural solution to meeting many of the nation’s carbon reduction targets while saving the country billions of dollars in imported petroleum costs.
There was also discussion about natural gas appliances and the impact on the sector under a carbon constrained economy and trading scheme.
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Gas Appliance Manufacturer Association of Australia’s Mark Amos said the Government’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme could be good for gas appliances.
He said that collective measures, such as the Minimum Energy Performance Standards, energy labelling, the National Hot Water Strategy and the Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Scheme (WELS) for gas water heaters, will guide and drive gas appliance improvements towards greater environmental efficiency.
Delving more into government regulation, Tania Constable presented a paper on the Department of Energy and Resources Energy White Paper. In his presentation on regulation in the 21st Century, Chris Harvey of Chris Harvey Consulting said a fresh approach was needed toward energy policy. He said that trust must be reciprocated between the gas industry and the government, with policy geared towards providing economic incentives to provide innovative solutions for all parties.
Discussing technical regulation, APA Group’s Robert Cracknell spoke on the need for consistency on the application of In-service Compliance Standard 4944:2006 for domestic gas meters.
A number of papers were presented on gas asset management, including Nithi Nithianandan of SP AusNet’s presentation on conducting trigger surveys to manage gas leaks and identify high risk areas in the system.
Energy Safe Victoria’s Andrew Jones gave the historical background of the Victorian gas, electricity and pipeline regulator and discussed how the gas industry should manage its assets.
Looking to Australia’s energy future, SP AusNet’s Sylvia Low took part in the conference’s Young Energy Industry Leaders of the Future challenge to describe the energy network sector in 2050, asking whether natural gas power generation would be centralised or decentralised.
With climate change as the major driver of future power generation and keeping typical coal plant life of 30–40 years in mind, she said it is crucial that the right decisions are made today to ensure a long-lasting positive impact both economically and environmentally.
Ms Low said that whether or not for the long term, natural gas will play a critical role in Australia’s transition away from coal-fired power generation.
The exhibition and the social side of Energy 21C
Attendees also enjoyed the conference social events. Delegates, speakers and exhibitors enjoyed welcome cocktails in the exhibition hall but the highlight was the Conference Celebration Dinner. After an address by Federal Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson, attendees were entertained by singing waiters, magicians and more.
Conference Chairman Bob Smith said “The energy industry is facing a major transformation to replace and upgrade ageing infrastructure and to meet new guidelines in a carbon reduced economy.”
“The exhibition and demonstration area was an active showcase of industry innovation. It was particularly pleasing to see more than 220 exhibition booths contributing technical dimensions to the event.”
The next Energy 21C conference is scheduled for 2011.
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