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On 20 June 2023 at Hardwick Hall Hotel, we hosted our annual Clean Growth Conference. With more than 175 delegates in attendance, the day was packed full of insightful presentations on Net Zero and emerging decarbonisation technologies.

Sponsored by bp, Sembcorp, Appleyard Lees and NRL, the conference was opened by our head of technical, Ryan Siddall. Ryan introduced first speakers Francesco De Leonardis & Will Harrison-Cripps of bp, who gave an update on bp’s H2Teesside project and explained why Teesside was perfectly placed for the hydrogen pipeline and how it is a great test bed for the wider economy.

Dr Graham Hillier from CPI addressed climate change through resource efficiency, explaining how the rise in life expectancy is directly linked to increased Co2 in the atmosphere: “New technology is only partially the answer, but by improving efficiency in our industry there is a significant opportunity to reduce carbon emissions.”

We also heard from Chris Rowell of Tees Valley Combined Authority who stressed how Net Zero is at the highest priority of the authority and Eliza Dwyer of Nova Pangaea Technologies who explained their innovative Novachar and Refnova processes.

Mark Devine of Sembcorp highlighted why companies should invest in the Wilton International site, explaining how it is positioned within a hub of innovative decarbonisation activity, making it perfect for future clean growth opportunities.

During the day delegates enjoyed visiting our exhibitors who included: Sembcorp Energy, bp, Beamex, Evides Industriewater, Frazer-Nash Consultancy, Wave, Imperial Recruitment Group, Johnson Procurement Solutions (JPS), NRL, Tees Valley Combined Authority, TWI, Veolia, Wolviston Management Services, AXIOM, Hazchem Safety, TransFIRe Hub and Filcom Filterservice.

Our innovation executive, Abigail Bell opened the second session, with speakers Emma Johnston of Frazer-Nash Consultancy, who discussed how they advised on the Tees Valley Cluster Plan, and Oyinda Gunn of Axiom who highlighted the risks of working with hydrogen and the safety measures that can be put in place.

Christopher Mason of Appleyard Lees shared findings from their Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report pointing out that green hydrogen patents approached 200 in 2020 – doubling the previous 18 years in just two years, with Europe showing strongest growth.

Then followed an insightful panel discussion hosted by Ryan featuring, Chris Beck of Arup, James Prime of Turner and Townsend, Dr Nashwan Dawood of NZIIC and Sarah Daun of Womble Bond Dickinson.

After a delicious lunch from Hardwick Hall, we began our third session of the day opened by our sustainability executive, Chris Crooks, who welcomed Jack Bottomley of Northern Endurance Partnership to the stage. Jack explained the ambitions for cO2 stores for the East Coast Cluster expansion, stating: “The project will need to be delivered through support of the region, utilising Teesside’s craft and workforce.”

We then heard from Dr Linsey Fuller of P&G who explained the Flue2Chem project which aims to find alternative carbon sources for manufacturing consumer goods, discussing the consortium of businesses involved she said: “It’s promising that this competitor collaboration shows a unified drive within industry to bring about positive change.”

Delegates then heard from Tim Sutherland of Circular Fuels who discussed how they are addressing the decarbonisation of LPG, followed by James Watt of WSP who stressed how they key to the future of the clusters was to ensure the development of non-cluster areas.

Steve Coates of X-Energy discussed the organisation’s nuclear contribution to clean growth and ambitions for Teesside and beyond before drawing our conference to a close.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved once again, our next event will be our highly anticipated Meet the Members! Back for a new venue in 2023, you can find all the information you need here.