AEA Australia Announces 2020 Conference

Pandemic or no pandemic, the Australian chapter of the Ammonia Energy Association (AEA Australia) will hold a second edition of its Ammonia = Hydrogen 2.0 Conference this year. The event will be held on a virtual basis on August 27 and 28 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. (Australian Eastern Standard Time) each day. The start times may be challenging for people in the eastern United States (11:00 p.m.), but perhaps workable for individuals in California (8:00 p.m.), Western Europe (5:00 a.m.), and of course Japan (noon). 

The conference tagline is “Building an energy export industry using Green Ammonia.” Its themes this year will be “green ammonia production — jobs for the regions;” “ammonia as maritime bunker fuel;” and “ammonia certification schemes.”

The opening address, entitled “Ammonia — is it a fuel, or is it an energy carrier?” will be given by Alan Finkel, Chief Scientist of the Australian Government. Finkel chairs Australia’s Hydrogen Strategy Working Group whose National Hydrogen Strategy was formally adopted by the Council of Australian Governments in November 2019. The Strategy was notable for its extensive integration of ammonia as an enabler of hydrogen-based energy systems.

The plenary speaker will be Rob Stevens, Yara’s Vice President of Ammonia Energy and Shipping Fuel. Stevens will speak about the “Role of ammonia in a hydrogen economy.”

Shigeru Muraki, Representative Director of Japan’s Green Ammonia Consortium and last year’s plenary speaker, will describe the Consortium’s “Implementation Plan of C-free Ammonia Value Chain.”

Many of the other announced speakers will address one of the conference themes. Karan Bagga of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions will pick up the jobs theme with “The evolution of Green Ammonia Industry – Harbinger of growth and sustainability of skilled employment in Australia.” Similarly, Rhys Tucker of business consultancy E2C Advisory will speak to “Observations on green ammonia production scaleup and the potential for job creation.”

Martin Hablutzel of Siemens will pick up the certification theme with “Platform based Certification Scheme,” while Penelope Howarth of Australian National University will address “Ammonia certification to support decarbonisation and international trade – challenges and opportunities.”

And Koh Eng Kiong of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore will pick up the bunker fuel theme with “Ammonia as a future marine fuel – bunkering safety and potential issues,” while Rene Laursen from the marine classification society ABS will speak about “How to get approval of an ammonia fuelled vessel.”

Other announced speakers include Pavel Cherepanov of Monash University, David Harris of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Paul Hodgson of National Energy Resources Australia (one of the Australian Government’s “Industry Growth Centres”), Sam Mitzi of Fortescue Metals Group, and Amy Philbrook of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

Announced conference events include panel discussions, a virtual poster session, and a virtual networking mixer. 

Registration fees reflect the virtual nature of the conference, ranging from AUD $50 for industry and government attendees to AUD $5 for students. Those interested in attending can register on the Ammonia = Hydrogen 2.0 Conference Web site, hosted by Monash University.