One of the best quotes to sum up our very first edition of EnergyFest from one of our keynote speakers was: "I'm often invited to speak at energy conferences, but the focus is always on the challenges we face, how we aren't doing enough and how we're not meeting targets. This event is about celebrating what we ARE doing!"
And it looks like we are doing quite a bit to face those challenges! This was made clear during the day from the DUO Talks where we heard about the joint efforts of our Ghent University researchers and our industrial and societal partners, explaining how working together has a huge added value for both parties:
We heard stories from Daikin Europe NV on their collaboration with the UGent IDLab and how they use AI for energy to combine thermal knowledge with sustainable technology.
The City of Ghent explained how our structural partnership helps realize a sustainable and inclusive energy transition of the build environment in the city while it functions as a living lab for our researchers.
The focus was not only on producing more power, but also on the impact of the materials used and their circularity, in this case for the offshore wind turbines of Parkwind, who are working closely together with the UGhent's Sustainable Systems Engineering group.
And the final DUO Talk elaborated on the joint efforts towards renewable fuels and new generation engines as a result of the long-standing partnership between our Ghent University Transport Technology department and the Ghent-based company Anglo Belgian Corporation (ABC).
Interested in the presentations of these DUO talks, then let us know via the contact form.
Next to our DUO Talks we also had four renowned speakers to take the stage, giving us their insights on very timely and thought-provoking energy transition topics. Ms. Elizabeth Press from IRENA, director of Planning and Programme Support, immediately set the international scene for the day, talking about the shifting paradigms of the global energy transition.
"Energy is everybody's business!", Elizabeth Press, IRENA
After an extensive round of Q&A, our UGent colleague Moniek de Jong, researcher at the GIES group, took over to delve into the changing geopolitics of energy. After lunch professor Johan Albrecht focused on the economic side of the energy transition, comparing the climate puzzle to the Apollo missions in the seventies and how we can learn from this mission economy to transpose it to our current challenges. Lastly, ENGIE's Jan Mertens, Chief Science Officer, explained how we all should give CO2 (and some other elements!) more attention and use it to our advantage. All of the keynote presentations can be found below.
But the day wasn't only filled with presentations! Our participants could roll up their sleeves and join the challenge sessions which were offered by Luminus, SeaCoop and Arcelor Mittal. During these sessions everyone could get involved and brainstorm on the offered real-live challenges by our three partners, offering stimulating discussions from different viewpoints.
The initial goal of the event was to showcase the ongoing UGent energy expertise and innovation, to rekindle current partnerships and most definitely inspire new ones! There was amply opportunity to do so during the energy fair where Ghent University | EnerGhentIC researchers were keen to show what they are working on and meaningful interactions played out with the participants, leading to new connections, new ideas and collaboration offers. Exactly the sort of impact the event had at its core!
And now? Now we are ready to work on all the ideas that took root during EnergyFest 2024, so stay tuned for more updates. In the meanwhile, enjoy the wonderful event pictures below (© Nic Vermeulen).
The organization wishes to thank its preferred partners for their support: Daikin Europe, Luminus and Fluvius
