50th gat gas industry conference in Hamburg
gat 2011 attracts about 3,000 visitors – leading industry conference focuses on energy turnaround
Bonn, 31 October 2011 – The turnaround in German energy policy has significantly improved the prospects of the gas industry. In the German government's energy plan of September 2010, gas did not play a major role. Now, it has become the key energy supply technology. "We now know that gas will be essential for the rapid integration of renewable energies in the energy supply system. Gas is no longer a transitional technology but the key to the world of renewable energies."
This was the view expressed by the President of DVGW Deutscher Verein des Gas- und Wasserfaches, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Krause, at the 50th gat gas industry conference, held in Hamburg on 25 and 26 October 2011. About 3,000 experts from the gas industry and more than 180 exhibitors once again made gat 2011 Germany's key event for information interchange on all technical, strategy and innovation-related aspects of the gas industry. With stimulating discussions on the latest developments in energy policy and technology, gat was once again a strong platform for dialogue between engineers, economists and politicians. With its innovation campaign, launched in 2009 to investigate the potential of highly innovative gas technologies for energy systems of the future, DVGW has provided a significant boost for the innovation capabilities of natural gas.
This year's gat conference was the 50th event in the series. Since the first conference was held in 1962, gat has become Germany's major conference in the gas sector. The conference was accompanied by Germany's largest gas industry exhibition, with a total area of 4,700 square metres. As at gat 2010, held in Stuttgart, the extension of the event to two full days and the pre-conference evening, held at the exhibition, proved to be very successful. The overall package of stimulating presentations, a gas industry exhibition and an informal pre-conference event was very well-received by participants and exhibitors.
Gat 2012 is to be held together with the wat water industry conference at a joint venue in Dresden on 25 and 26 September 2012.
More information: www.gat-dvgw.de
DVGW Deutscher Verein des Gas- und Wasserfaches e. V. – Technisch-wissenschaftlicher Verein – provides support for the gas and water industry, focussing on the areas of safety, hygiene and environmental protection. With about 13,000 members, DVGW draws up the generally accepted rules of technology for gas and water, tests and certifies products, industry experts and companies, initiates and supports research projects and provides training on a full range of subjects related to gas and water. The DVGW codes of practice lay the foundation for the technical self-regulation of the gas and water industry in Germany. They guarantee safe gas and water supplies to the highest international standards. The non-profit association was established in Frankfurt am Main.