Technical VP highlights energy challenge

IChemE technical vice president Ed Daniels has cautioned that it can take three decades for new technologies to develop from a concept such as Gas To Liquids (GTL) or Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to contributing 1% of the world energy system.

Speaking at the Chemeca conference in New Zealand last month, Daniels, who is an executive vice president within Shell’s Projects & Technology organisation, stressed that energy must be ‘abundant, acceptable and affordable’ and said that chemical engineers must work to close the gap between the technologies currently available and those that are required to tackle food, water and energy challenges.

“More than 9 billion people are expected to live on Earth by 2050, up from 7 billion today. Asia's fast-growing cities will absorb much of this growth, with three in four people living in urban centres,” said Daniels.

“As living standards improve, many will move out of poverty and gain access to energy, a paradox emerges: the world's growing prosperity may undermine the benefits that this prosperity brings. Meeting the needs of a growing population and rising middle class will put stress on the world's energy, water and food supplies.

“These vital resources are also tightly linked: for example rising energy consumption adds strain on the world's water stocks and vice versa. Energy providers, for instance, are among the largest industrial consumers of freshwater - water is needed for drilling, flooding wells, refining crude and producing biofuels and also power generation and transportation.

“At the same time, energy is required for the supply purification, distribution and treatment of water and wastewater. Chemical engineers have a crucial role to play in shaping the understanding of the connections between energy, water, food and climate systems - and devising some of the practical solutions to begin to address such dilemmas and stresses,” said Daniels.

More than 330 delegates attended the event which was staged at Wellington’s Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa. The event was organised by IChemE, Engineers Australia, the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand.

Other keynote speakers included Republic of Trinidad & Tobago President George Maxwell Richards, IChemE president Russell Scott and Barry Welch, former head of chemical engineering at the University of New South Wales who was awarded the event’s Chemeca Medal in recognition of his sustained contribution to the profession.

Next year’s event, themed Challenging Tomorrow, takes place in Brisbane on 29 September – 2 October.