NGVA Europe celebrates 2nd Intern. Show & Workshops in Berlin

The 2nd NGVA Europe International Show & Workshops NGV 2011 Berlin, celebrated during June 7-9, lived up to all expectations and once more proved that the industry is convinced that natural gas and biomethane in transport will make the difference in European transport as the only real immediate and cost-effective alternative to oil derived fuels.

The Expo consisted of 80 booths that housed 95 companies and of 38 vehicles on display. About 1,500 visitors from 52 countries went round the site over three days. At the same time, the Workshops sessions were full of people attracting 305 participants, who were able to interact with 38 speakers. The whole event covered a total area of 7,000 sq/m conformed by the expo pavilion, the outdoor area, and the Palais am Funkturm, where the workshops took place.

Workshops

NGVA Europe was very proud to welcome Antonio Tricas from the European Commission (DG MOVE) to deliver insight into the Commission strategy on alternative fuels in Workshop 3 on biomethane. "Natural gas and biomethane clearly belong to the alternative fuel mix of the future and will play an important role in reducing GHG emissions from transport", Tricas said. Significant workshop conlusions included that heavy-duty transportation on LNG would play a significant role in the short term. The third and final day of NGV 2011 Berlin started with a workshop on the issue of Managing Urban Waste by Producing Biomethane: the Virtuous Circle in Urban Transport, introduced by Manuel Lage, General Manager of NGVA Europe. “We like to say that biofuels are those from food, but the main and most interesting source is waste, both domestic and communal waste,” said Lage, who underlined “the potential of the waste that is collected every day” and stressed how this could be at the origin of a true “virtuous circle”, both from environmental and economic point of view.

The participants illustrated, among other things, some of the best practices and examples coming from their different countries of origin. Mattias Svensson (Swedish Gas Centre) spoke about the biomethane-powered transport in the EU and the ways to turn waste into methane. Renate Lemke (BSR) described how the biogas fleet contributes every day to the cleanliness of the German capital.

"CNG: Potentiality, Synergy and Political Will" was the title of the last of the five workshops that took place during the NGV 2011 Berlin. The debate, moderated by Gabriele Gozzi, president of NGV Global and commercial director of Idro Meccanica, gave the opportunity to natural gas distributors in Europe to expound about their plans and expectations. The first to speak was Guido Wember (Ruhrgas), who analysed how to operate a 'customer oriented CNG supply'. Flavio Mariani (Eni) talked about the development of Compressed Natural Gas as a fuel, and Matthias Maedge (representative of NGVA Europe in Brussels) explained the issue under a European angle, expressing his optimism about the EU Commission's ability to understand the necessity of products which are “available and affordable”.

Other achievements for the association reported to members include:

Upcoming events

Manuel Lage, on behalf of NGVA Europe, and Claudio Kohan from NGV Communications Group, signed important agreements that constitute the official launching of NGV2012 Bologna, the 3rd NGVA Europe International Show & Workshops, "(Bio) Natural Gas: The affordable alternative for all transport modes."


Source: NGV Communications Group, NGVA Europe

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