Hydrogen Ireland stakeholder work – Feb 17-21, 2020
It’s been a busy week for the Hydrogen Ireland team. Firstly on the evening of Tuesday 18 February Mark Welsh, from GenComm partner Energia spoke at ‘The Mac’ in Belfast’s Cathedral quarter at a Northern Ireland Science Festival event called ‘The Future of Mobility’.
In an attempt to halt climate change and improve air quality there is a push towards low carbon vehicles being ubiquitous on our roads, sea and air in tandem, work is accelerating on fully autonomous vehicles. Mark spoke as part of a panel of experts from business and academia which also included David Tyler, Commercial Director, Artemis Technologies, and Andrew Woods, CEO of Catagen. Lorraine Acheson, Innovate UK Manager for Northern Ireland was the Chair of the event. The event was part of the Innovate UK Grand Challenges series which focuses on the global trends which will transform our futures. There is now in 2020 an upheaval in our mobility, energy and infrastructure systems. A public announcement on January 29, 2020 by Translink, the Energia Group and Wrightbus with support from the Department for Infrastructure and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) paved the way for Belfast’s first ever hydrogen powered double decker buses.
Meanwhile on Thursday February 20, 2020, Dr Rory Monaghan , from GenComm partner, NUIG was a speaker at the Irish Renewable Energy Summit 2020 in Croke Park, Dublin. Dr Monaghan is also the Chair of the Community Hydrogen Forum, (CH2F) a vital output of the GenComm project. The 2020 Irish Renewable Energy Summitt looked at where Ireland is in terms of delivering renewable energy to meet its climate commitments. The summit brought together key stakeholders from across the energy sector to discuss how the contribution from renewable energy can be maximized and implemented most effectively.
Among the key themes covered at the Dublin event were the climate action plan and renewable energy policy, the next phase of onshore wind development, decarbonizing the gas network with biomethane and the electrification of transport.
At a session on bioenergy chaired by Marie Donnelly from Renewable Energy Ireland, Dr Monaghan spoke on the topic, ‘Renewable Hydrogen is ready for take off’. Among the other speakers was William Walsh, Chief Executive of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. Mr Walsh spoke on the topic, ‘Projections to 2030-Renewable Energy Outlook’.
