“There’s a widespread desire to increase diversity and younger participation but an immaturity when it comes to global programs and processes,” APA Group’s Elizabeth Wheeler, and Worley’s Morgan Grace, share their experience at the Emerging Fuels Symposium.
This year, Greece hosted the Emerging Fuels Symposium, a collaborative event organised by EPRG, PRCI, and APGA’s FFCRC. The symposium offered a fantastic platform for engaging in discussions and exchanging insights on emerging trends in the industry. Elizabeth Wheeler (EW), Lead Project Engineer at APA, and Morgan Grace (MG), Consultant at Worley, attended the event in May 2024 and share their thoughts.
Why are joint technical events so important?
EW: These events bring together brilliant minds and perspectives from our international colleagues to a place where we can discuss the technical issues with openness and collaboration. In my experience, the subject matter experts in technical fields attend to present or participate. This presents a challenge for vertical knowledge transfer, sustainability and diversity, but APGA’s world-leading scholarship program sent a contingent of young professionals to learn and network to become said leading experts in time.
What was your biggest learning from the symposium?
MG: Learning how far research has come for gas storage and transmission for the emerging fuels was extremely profound. It was exciting to see groups running trials of new technologies and being forthright with knowledge gaps and findings.
EW: There were so many, but the standout for me would be how the three industry research bodies are working on largely similar topics in parallel and this event brought them together to compare notes. A key question amongst materials and integrity engineers thus far in the Hydrogen conversation has involved the interaction between the teeny tiny hydrogen molecule and the fracture mechanics of pipe steel. Also what was very interesting was the advancements in underground storage utilising salt caverns in France and the US, and just how much engineering is going into keeping everything safe.
How are you going to apply things you heard there in your work?
MG: I work on a range of projects, from pipeline integrity to hydrogen blending studies for natural gas networks. The conference strengthened my understanding of how emerging fuels interact in existing networks, but also the current knowledge gaps. This gives me a great baseline when working on new projects, allowing me to leverage this understanding.
EW: The segments on standardisation and transportation of certain emerging fuels (Ammonia, CO2) will definitely have an impact on our longer-term plans within pipeline operations and asset management.
Were there any standout moments from the conference?
MG: The discussion on greenhouse gas emissions in pipeline systems was interesting and very different to the other panels. I thought it was a great way to bring another aspect of sustainability to the table. While it didn’t encompass emerging fuels to the same depth as the other discussions, it is still an incredibly pertinent discussion to have regarding any pipeline system.
Was diversity evident in international discussions?
EW: We had an outstanding panel (I may be biased) of Young Pipeliners talking about the issues facing us in the industry, which prompted some excellent questions from the delegates. We uncovered a widespread desire to increase diversity and participation with younger people but an immaturity when it comes to global programs and processes. It was encouraging to see that the Australian contingent was the most representative of our diversity within the industry, taking a delegation of eight young people and a good span of career stages. There was another moment in which diversity was touched on, in the form of a panel of experts reminiscent of decades past with the diversity of the 1960 PGA circuit.
An earlier panel question was returned to this group of standards experts, enquiring whether their committees represented the diversity of the end users of their standards. Also ‘where are the women?’ The answers were an unexpectedly interesting insight into the mindset of the men being ‘left behind’ in the drive for diversity. It was revealed through the conversation that the issue isn’t gatekeeping or access or even similarity bias – it’s a pervasive lack of awareness amongst those in charge. Protesting that ‘nobody volunteers’ and ‘the door is always open’ only holds weight when you’ve told everyone which building the door is in.
It’s inspiring to see our women in pipelines representing Australia overseas, highlighting the vital role that conferences play in knowledge sharing and professional growth for young professionals in our industry.
This feature also appears in the July edition of The Australian Pipeliner.
