8th European Gasification Conference Concentrates on Fossil Fuel Gasification

June 15th, 2007 by Steve Evans

The full programme for the IChemE’s 8th European Gasification Conference,

Gasification – Effective Carbon Control, Hilton Antwerp Hotel, Antwerp, Belgium, 10 –12 September 2007, has been released.

At Renewable Energy News we were slightly disappointed by the low profile given by the conference to the rapidly emerging market for gasification of renewable energy sources.

Gasification has for some time provided an opportunity to capture carbon in fossil fuels before combustion and release as carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Further technical developments will improve efficiencies and reduce the amount of carbon to capture, are proceeding apace for mainstream gasification, and this is where the big money is in the gasification field – so the emphasis of the confrence is understanadable.

Yet, renewables gasification is being used in the UK and no doubt in many nations to generate power from such renewable energy sources as wood from sustainable forestry, wood chip from willow coppicing, and is potentially useable for such combustion feedstocks as chicken litter.

Other waste feedstocks which may or may not strictly be classed as ‘renewable’, but which may be being utilised, or about to be used in sustainable gasification systems are waste wood (although most in the UK goes to chipboard manufacture), mixed MSW, and paper waste .

Nevertheless, this conference is certainly excellent and “the best show in town” this autumn in Europe for gasification.

The following quotation is included from the organisers of the forthcoming Eighth Conference:-

“The previous seven European Gasification Conferences have proved popular with the manufacturing industry, financial and insurance
institutions, and academia, as well as with consultants and developers.

Significant replacement and new generating capacity has to be built over the next ten years. Several new gasification enterprises are intended for implementation within Europe and there has been significant amalgamation and alliancing between licensors, equipment suppliers and contractors.

The organising committee has therefore decided to bring forward as far as possible the date of the Eighth European Gasification Conference in order to provide a platform to debate and discuss these new challenges. Meeting them will provide new opportunities for the export of ideas, services and equipment.

The potential is there, and you are invited to contribute either by submitting an abstract or perhaps by informing the organising committee of a particular feature of gasification that you would like to learn more about at
the conference”