/BOUFT0QQPSUVOJUJF THE SALON BOIS ENERGIE AND BIOGAZ EUROPE are already both established leading exhibitions in their own fields and whilst retaining each its respective sectoral focus, the event was this year further broadened by the integration of the inaugural edition of Hypac Expo. Dedicated to hydrogen and fuel cells, Hypac Expo introduced the opportunity for all three sectors (solid biomass, biogas and hydrogen) to explore new frontiers, to forge new links and to sketch out new possibilities, particularly in the sectoral cross-over areas, in the space where energy convergence occurs. In these new frontier territories where current efforts towards energy convergence are already yielding interesting and promising results, the opportunity to innovate is very much an “open space” and a growing number of organisations both big and small, research based or industrially oriented, public or privately funded are already making energy convergence a reality. The well-attended conferences bore testimony to this emerging “energy convergence” picture and were characterised by their broad international coverage with simultaneous translation. Fascinating visions and perspectives on subjects such as biogas reforming into hydrogen, biological methanation of hydrogen for power-to-gas 40 Bioenergy International No 80, 4-2015 applications, hydrogen production from cellulosic biomass via steam reforming, fuel cells for wood syngas, and fuel cells for biogas amongst many others were presented to capacity audiences. The exchanges between the panel and floor were both rich and varied. The combined staging of these inter-related exhibitions and their growing synergy across sectors embodied a will on behalf of the organiser BEES to create an environment that encourages cross-fertilisation of ideas. It was a clear intention to show how some parts of the renewable energy mix could be combined in the future. Companies with a discreet sectoral focus today, e.g. wood energy, biogas or hydrogen could tomorrow have a portfolio mix of any two, or all three of these sectors - and some already do. The Salon Bois Energie The Salon Bois Energie 2015 attracted 10 000 visitors (7 000 professional and 3 000 general public) and 384 exhibitors, and represented companies covering the entire wood energy chain from the forest to the flame, from smallscale to the industrial level and from domestic to communal heating and co-generation projects. Like every year, the event enjoyed a very strong pan-European dimension with exhibitors from 20 countries notably Germany, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Spain, USA, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Morocco, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland. The exhibition was also characterised by a rich and diverse programme consisting of a series of conferences dedicated to wood energy, outside EVENT Under the over-arching banner “towards energy convergence”, three international exhibitions - the Salon Bois Energie, Biogaz Europe and Hypac Expo - were tri-staged for the first time in March this year in Nantes, France.
Bioenergy no 4 july 2015
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