ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

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Online Conference "Green Ammonia: A Pathway to a Sustainable Future" was held by Sowa Solutions on 29th October, 2024.

The conference has delved into market of green ammonia, potential of it's usage as fertilizer in agroindustry and as fuel in marin industry. The conference also showed new trends in production of green hydrogen as one of the main componenets in producing of green ammonia.

  Current commercial ammonia production is predominately based around the Haber-Bosch process. This reaction involves the catalytic reaction of hydrogen and nitrogen at high temperature and pressure. Fossil fuels are used in the production of this so-called "brown ammonia", which supplies the hydrogen and energy. About two tons of greenhouse gases are released for every tonne of ammonia generated.

 This kind of ammonia is produced on a massive scale—roughly half of the world's food is thought to be produced with artificial nitrogen-based fertilizers.  

 In contrast, green ammonia uses renewable energy sources and obtains its nitrogen from the air and its hydrogen from water. Although usually more costly, this method of producing ammonia is getting less expensive, in part because the cost of renewable energy is declining.
 

This technique is not dependent on natural gas in the same manner as the manufacturing of brown ammonia, which is a major advantage in addition to the fact that it produces fewer pollutants. This is especially important because Russia is a major supplier of natural gas as well as an ammonia producer. Due to sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, fertilizer costs and shortages have skyrocketed.  

SPEAKERS PROFILE

Stephen Voller, CEO Hydrogen Refinery

 Stephen Voller is the founder and CEO of Hydrogen Refinery. He is a Chartered Engineer with a track record of taking technology from concept to market. He is a recognised authority on green hydrogen, ammonia, fuel cells, renewable energy systems, energy storage technologies, batteries, and supercapacitors. He is the author of 100+ patents and inventor of Carbon-Ion that uses nanomaterials such as graphene with ionic electrolytes to improve the performance of supercapacitors.

Hannah Tod,  Green Ammonia Officer, Fertilizers Europe 

 Hannah Todd joined Fertilizer Europe in March 2023. As the Green Ammonia officer, she works on the decarbonisation of the industry and helping to promote the role of sustainably produced ammonia in achieving the EU's climate goals. 

She graduated from the University of Durham (UK) with a degree in Chemistry. Prior to joining Fertilizers Europe, Hannah worked at the UK Atomic Energy Authority as a Process Plant Engineer working on nuclear fusion hydrogen fuelling systems. 

Edward Cubero, Senior Strategy and Policy Advisor at Amogy   

 Edward is a Senior Strategy and Policy Advisor at Amogy where he is responsible for researching climate policies and alternative fuels to develop target markets for Amogy’s ammonia-to-power system. Prior to his time at Amogy, Ed spent over 8 years working at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where he developed federal energy policies to advance energy efficiency in commercial and residential buildings, as well as 5 years working in the debt capital markets at Moody’s Investors Service.

Edward holds a Master’s in Public Affairs from the University of Wisconsin and a Bachelor’s of Science in Finance from New York University.

Dr. Benjamin Baur, Capital Speaker at AquaVentus 

 Benjamin studied international relations and has a PhD in politics – the topic of his thesis was the foreign energy policy of the EU. He worked as a governmental policy officer in the state of Baden-Württemberg before he went to Berlin to work 5 years for the German Hydrogen Association in various fields of action as a project manager. Then Benjamin was a stakeholder-officer for acatech – one of the German national science academies – at the project H2-compass. This project was funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and was one of the key measures of the National Hydrogen Strategy of the year 2020. 

Now he is working for the AquaVentus Förderverein as the capital liaison officer in Berlin. His main fields of work are Stakeholder- and member management and policy field analysis. Besides that, he is in charge as a project manager.

Benjamin is well connected to the German and Berlin Hydrogen World – something essential to manage the ramp-up of the offshore hydrogen economy.

Beth Hebditch, Policy Manager at Carbon Capture and Storage Association

 Beth Hebditch is a Policy Manager at the Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CSSA) London office, where she focuses on the development of CCUS policy and is responsible for the co-ordination of the CCSA’s Technical Working Group.

Beth joined the CCSA after 4 years in energy consultancy, where she covered UK and European power, gas, LNG, carbon and oil markets and worked with clients to navigate market volatility and regulatory changes in the evolving energy landscape. Beth holds an MSci Geology degree from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London.

Brenda A. McAuliffe, Hydrogen Analyst at Bloomberg Green Markets

 Brenda McAuliffe covers hydrogen and low-carbon ammonia for Bloomberg Green Markets. Her monthly Hydrogen Report includes a gray hydrogen pricing assessment, which conveys the transacted price of gray hydrogen at the point of delivery, and delves into issues on the transition to low-carbon hydrogen. Brenda has over 10 years experience in the industrial gas industry including P&L ownership of bulk hydrogen in North America for Air Products.

Brenda has a bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech and an MBA from Lehigh University. 

Srđan Sokolović, MBA, PhD, Owner of Sowa Solutions

 Srđan Sokolović is a highly accomplished professional with over fourteen years of experience, demonstrating a strong track record of business achievements. For the first 12 years of his career, he excelled in a prominent role at one of the largest vertically integrated energy companies in Southeast Europe. His expertise lies in business development, where he demonstrates exceptional skills in market research, business analysis, product development, data visualization, organizing conferences and creating engaging and informative content.

He is also an experienced speaker with experience in speaking in international conferences on topics regarding sustainable development and a established writer with articles published in Times of Malta, Lubes Magazine, and Bulletin of Oil Nationally Committee of Serbia.

AGENDA

10:00h EST / 15:00h CET

Opening of Conference (5 min)

Speaker: Srđan Sokolović, Owner of Sowa Solutions

10:05h EST / 15:05h CET

Presentation 01 " From Fossil Fuels to Renewable Energy"  (20 min)

• The historic agreement at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels
• Transition of 1 billion road vehicles, 50,000 merchant ships and 25,000 active airliners away from fossil fuels
• How to get to synthetic fuels and than to hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives.

Speaker: Stephen Voller, CEO Hydrogen Refinery

Q&A (10min)

10:35h EST / 15:35h CET

Presentation 02 " The Untapped Potential of Green Ammonia Fertilizer in Feeding a Growing Population" (20min) 

• What does it mean to have green fertiliser? 
•  Feeding Growing Population 
•  Fertilizers Europe’s ammonia industry roadmap and industry ambitions 
•  One strategy to partner with food producers or farming consortiums 

Speaker: Hannah Tod,  Green Ammonia Officer, Fertilizers Europe

Q&A (10min)

11:05h EST  / 16:05h CET

Presentation 03 " Ammonia: a renewable fuel
for carbon-free power" (20min)

Speaker: Edward Cubero, Senior Strategy and Policy Advisor at Amogy 

Q&A (10min)

11:35h EST  / 16:35h CET

Presentation 04 " Offshore Hydrogen: The Next Frontier in Energy Production" (20min)

• Mixed connection concept for far out offshore wind farm integration into the energy system
• Enabling pilot installations for effective technology scaling
• Appropriate auction design for a successful ramp-up
• Clear perspective for the integration of hydrogen production at sea for the "Green Power Plant North Sea"  

Speaker: Dr. Benjamin Baur, Capital Speaker at AquaVentus 

Q&A (10min)

12:05h EST  / 17:05h CET

Presentation 05   " Carbon Capture Storage and Utilization Technologies and Projects"  (20min)

•  Introduction to the CCSA
• The CCUS Value Chain – exploring the different applications of CCUS from capture, transport, storage and utilisation
• Overview of Developments: UK
• Overview of Developments: EU

Speaker: Beth Hebditch, Policy Manager at Carbon Capture and Storage Association

Q&A (10min)

12:35h EST  / 17:35h CET

Presentation 06  " Hydrogen Market Trends" (20min)

• Current state of the market - grey hydrogen versus low-carbon
• Connection to the low-carbon ammonia market
• Current policy landscape in US - 45V vs. 45Q and status
• Biggest barriers to low-carbon market developing

Speaker: Brenda A. McAuliffe, Hydrogen Analyst at Bloomberg Green Markets

Q&A (10min)

13:05h EST  / 18:05h CET

Closing Remarks (5 min)

13:10h EST  / 18:10h CET

End of Conference