Park Xpress Newsletter February 2019

Welcome to the first edition of Park Xpress.  This new, regular newsletter aims to keep you informed and up to date about activities and developments at Saltend Chemicals Park.

We would like to make you aware that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will be holding five, one-day stakeholder events across the UK covering EU Exit and its impact on the chemical regimes in a no-deal scenario.

The events will include:

• a session by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on non-regulatory information for businesses to help prepare for EU Exit;
• sessions led by HSE on the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR), Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) and Prior Informed Consent (PIC) regimes;
• and sessions led by Defra on Plant Protection Products (PPP) and the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals (REACH).

The events will include some similar messaging to previous events but will reflect the current state of play. All five events will follow the same format.

These events will be more widely advertised on Monday 11^th February, however we would like to give you the opportunity to share with your members and allow them early access to book a place. If they would like to attend they should use the links provided below, further details on the events are provided in the link. Please note a ticket will be required to enter the event.

To allow as many as possible of your members and other organisations to attend, and as all events will follow the same format, we kindly ask that you consider the most appropriate location and send a maximum of two representatives across all five events.

KCOM Stadium, Hull on Wednesday 27^th February 2019

Book a place here.

Sophia Gardens Stadium, Cardiff on Friday 1^st March 2019

Book a place here.

Millennium Gloucester, London on Tuesday 5^th March 2019

Book a place here.

 Chester Racecourse, Chester on Thursday 7^th March 2019

Book a place here.

Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh on Friday 15^th March 2019

Book a place here.

The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has published a policy paper on The Grand Challenge Missions including establishing the world’s first net-zero carbon industrial cluster by:

• reducing emissions in 1 cluster to net-zero by 2040
• in at least 1 cluster, by 2030:
  • the low-carbon infrastructure needed to support industrial decarbonisation will be in place and operational, attracting new investment and innovation
  • multiple industrial facilities will already have reduced their emissions, by the greatest possible extent
• positioning UK clusters as top areas for global inward investment and driving demand for low carbon products and technologies by harnessing the power of markets, the public sector, universities and local communities

Success in this mission would transform our industrial clusters into world leading low-carbon manufacturing hubs, safeguarding existing jobs and companies on which the prosperity of key regions depends.

It will further establish the UK’s position at the forefront of the global shift to Clean Growth by developing world-leading expertise in green manufacturing products, and the technologies and services required to produce them. The mission aims to attract inward investment, new business and employment opportunities.

It will support the cost-effective decarbonisation of our industrial sector, which accounts for around a quarter of all UK GHG emissions.

• Industrial Clusters infographic

Up to £170 million from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund will support the mission through the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge.

If you would like a PDF version of the 2019 Members Directory, please contact Lisa – lisa.buck@catchuk.org

Thursday 28 February 2019, SCI, 14/15 Belgrave Square, London

Heating in a Low Carbon Future 28 Feb 2019

Synopsis
SCI Energy Group’s first major conference reflects the critical importance of reducing CO2 emissions from the way we heat our homes for achieving the UK’s target of an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050. This conference will explore available and emerging technologies to deliver low carbon energy to buildings, comfort to occupants and energy savings.

The programme will include speakers on developments in heat pumps, smart systems, district heating and hydrogen, and the impact of decarbonisation on infrastructure. Speakers will also address the barriers to uptake and the social impact of options to reduce CO2 emissions from heating. Reflecting SCI’s approach to resolving the energy trilemma, we want to address the reliability, affordability and sustainability of solutions.

Attendees
The event is intended to broker links between science and industry, with a target audience of engineers, business and commercial managers, policy managers, academics in the field, R&D managers, marketing and business development managers, technical and operations managers, and investment decision makers.  SCI Members attending this meeting are able to claim CPD points.

Registration
Early bird rates before Thursday 17 January 2019:
SCI Member £50 SCI Student Member £20, SCI Subsidised Member £35, Non-Member £75

Standard rates after Thursday 17 January 2019:
SCI Member £75, SCI Student Member £25, SCI Subsidised Member £50, Non-Member £100

Programme Highlights
Nina Skorupska from the Renewable Energy Association is keynote speaker on low-carbon heat policy: current status and future direction, and speakers from, National Grid, Energy Systems Catapult, Element Energy, TateHindle & AECOM, KTN and Progressive Energy will discuss:

Overview of Smart Systems – Comfort through Energy Savings
Provision of Low Carbon Energy Routes to Heating
Heat Pumps, Solar Power & Heat Storage – Integration Opportunities
Social aspects of new technologies
Heat Infrastructure/District Heating
Applying technologies to minimise energy consumption in buildings
Impact on Infrastructure
Adding Hydrogen to the gas grid – the HyNet project

Book today
T: +44 (0) 20 7598 1561
E: conferences@soci.org
W: http://bit.ly/LowCarbon_Future
@SCIUpdate

The UK could have the world’s first ‘net-zero carbon’ cluster of heavy industry by 2040, thanks to up to £170 million of new funding announced at COP24climate talks in Poland today (13 December).

Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry today set the world-leading ambition alongside plans for at least one low-carbon cluster by 2030 at UN climate change talks (COP24) in Katowice, Poland. Using cutting-edge technologies like carbon capture and storage, the UK is aiming to become a world-leader in clean technology and services that will be needed as the world tackles climate change.

The UK’s low carbon economy has the potential to deliver export sales of low carbon goods and services around the world, by 2030 annual exports could be worth up to £170 billion and could support up to 2 million ‘green collar’ jobs by 2030 – a key part of our modern Industrial Strategy.

Currently, industry accounts for around 25% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the UK, with more than two-thirds of these industrial emissions coming from energy intensive industries which are often located next to each other in clusters.

This new funding of up to £170 million, which is expected to be backed by industry, will help heavy industries like steel, ceramics, cement, chemicals, paper and glass to share expertise and innovative low-carbon solutions to clean up the air we breathe as we move to a greener, cleaner economy.

Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry said:

Demonstrating climate action and growing the economy go hand in hand is key to building momentum behind global action on carbon. The UK is a leader in both, cutting our emissions by more than 40% while growing our economy by 2 thirds, but to sustain this track record we need to tackle emissions from energy intensive sectors and bring clean growth to our great industrial centres.

That’s why today I’m launching a mission to create the world’s first ‘net-zero’ carbon cluster by 2040 in the UK with up to £170 million of new government funding. This will help to develop the technologies of the future to transform industry around the world, ensuring the UK seizes the global economic opportunities of moving to greener, cleaner industry – a key part of our modern Industrial Strategy.

By investing in world-leading innovative technology, such as carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS), climate change can be tackled alongside creating highly skilled jobs and generating export opportunities. At the end of last month, Minister Claire Perry co-hosted a global summit in Edinburgh at which she unveiled plans to enable the first UK carbon capture project from the mid-2020s.

Today’s announcement comes as the UK-Canada led Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) celebrates one year of success, now with over 70 members. As part of this, the UK has committed £20 million for a World Bank programme (ESMAP) to help developing countries move away from coal power and embrace renewable energy. To make a real impact on the reduction of coal power, UK government has established the Utilities Taskforce to become influential advocates for the PPCA.

At international climate talks in Poland this year at COP24, the UK and Canada today will announce new members of the PPCA, committing to eradicating coal power while redirecting resources to renewables. Around 3.5 billion tons of coal are currently burnt globally for power every year, contributing to 45% of the world’s emissions.

The UK government has put moving to a cleaner, greener economy at the heart of its Industrial Strategy. Through the Clean Growth Grand Challenge, the transformation in the clean energy sector has contributed to the whole of the UK cutting its emissions by more than 40% since 1990 while growing the economy by more than two-thirds – the best performance on a per person basis of any G7 nation.

But UK has always been clear that the move to a cleaner economy must be both public and private sector led, which is why the modern Industrial Strategy establishes clean growth as one of the greatest economic opportunities of our time – with heavy industry now set to also benefit from this new clean revolution and seize the vast global economic opportunity that comes with it.

Power stations are also set to benefit too from the move to a cleaner economy. To make a real impact on the reduction of coal power, UK government is working with investors to establish the Utilities Taskforce – a group comprising companies which supply electricity to UK homes – to become powerful and influential advocates for the alliance and encourage investors to commit funds into the thriving clean energy market instead of investing in coal projects.

The UK’s first carbon capture, usage and storage project could be operational from the mid 2020s under a government action plan.

Work will begin early next year to identify opportunities to transform the UK’s fossil fuel infrastructure for use in carbon capture and storage, diversifying the oil and gas sector.

More than 50 international leaders, chief executives of major energy companies, manufacturing businesses and finance firms gathered to discuss the next crucial steps for making cutting-edge carbon capture technology a reality.

Ahead of COP24, the government will show the UK’s continued leadership on tackling climate change by setting out an action plan to enable the development of the UK’s first CCUS project, commissioning from the mid 2020s. The overarching ambition is to roll out the technology at scale in the 2030s, subject to costs coming down sufficiently.

This work is part of our Industrial Strategy Grand Challenge to maximise the advantages for UK industry from the global shift to clean growth.

Read more about this announcement.

Velocys has secured a site for the UK waste-to-jet-fuel project which it is developing in collaboration with British Airways and Shell.

Velocys plc (VLS.L), the renewable fuels company, is pleased to announce that it has secured a site for the UK waste-to-jet-fuel project which it is developing in collaboration with British Airways and Shell.

The site of approximately 80 acres, near Immingham, North East Lincolnshire, is in an Enterprise Zone and earmarked for industrial development within the Local Plan. Development is subject to planning consent; the formal planning application process is expected to begin in 2019.

Altalto Immingham Ltd, a subsidiary of Velocys, has entered into an option agreement which gives it the right, but not the obligation, to acquire Rula Developments (Immingham) Limited, the company which owns the site, for up to three years. The project team is developing the engineering and business case for the project, and the project is also subject to funding and a final investment decision, which would include a decision to proceed with the acquisition of the Immingham site. In the event that the Company in consultation with its partners decides not to proceed with the purchase, the liabilities incurred as a result of the agreement are not material to Velocys.

Back in June, the Biofuels Digest reported that Velocys had secured funding to deliver the next development phase of their UK waste-to-sustainable jet fuel project.  A grant of £434k has been secured from the Department for Transport under the Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition.  The award of this grant, together with ongoing policy support provided by the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, will help this innovative waste-to-fuels project bring jobs and clean growth to the UK.  The project is being developed with the financial and technical support of Shell and British Airways, and £4.5m has been committed by the industry partners including Velocys.

The new facility will take hundreds of thousands of tonnes per year of post-recycled waste, destined for landfill or incineration, and convert it into clean-burning, sustainable fuels.  The jet fuel produced, to be used by British Airways, is expected to deliver over 70% greenhouse gas reduction and 90% reduction in particulate matter emissions compared with conventional jet fuel. This would contribute to both carbon emissions reductions and local air quality improvements around major airports. The project partners expect to reach a final investment decision in the first half of 2020.

The next development stage will include detailed pre Front End Engineering and Design engineering study and site permitting activities. Advanced Plasma Power has been selected as preferred gasification technology licensor for this UK waste-to-fuels project. APP offers an efficient and tested solution for conversion of waste to synthesis gas (for onward conversion to fuels via Velocys’ Fischer-Tropsch process).

In a boost to the long term commercial viability of the project, changes to the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation came into force on the 15 April 2018. For the first time, renewable jet fuel is to qualify for credits under the RTFO, providing long term policy support for sustainable aviation fuels.

Read more:

Immingham site targeted for the UK’s first commercial scale waste-to-jet-fuel plant

Ctrl Hub’s Managing Director, Mark Lisgo describes how digital solutions can provide the key to more effective and proactive Supply Chain and Contractor Management.

It is all too easy to take your supply chain for granted.  When operations are running smoothly, it seems far important to hit the next target, close the next deal, or focus on that upcoming project.

You would like to think that your suppliers (and your customers for that matter) operate to the same high standards.  That they strive for the same high quality product or output every single time.

You have an expectation that they have the same commitment to health and safety as you.  They have proper procedures and systems in place.  All of their workers are suitably trained, qualified and competent to perform the task in hand.

You might assume that they have the same level of integrity as you.  They do not cut corners.  They put their hands up and accept liability for their own actions or omissions.

Far too often, however, you will only discover that all is not as you had hoped.  Unfortunately, that discovery generally happens once an incident has occurred, or an unsatisfactory outcome has arisen.  Instead of proactively addressing issues, damage limitation – finger pointing – becomes the required course of action.

According to the HSE, in the United Kingdom in 2017/18 there were:

• 144 fatal injuries to workers;
• 555,000 self reported injuries at work; and
• 71,062 non-fatal injuries reported under RIDDOR

(Source: Health and Safety Executive Report – Health and Safety at Work 2018)

Hoping for the best is not an acceptable course of action.  Injuries and incidents are going to occur.

You can have the most detailed, thorough vetting procedures and pre-qualification exercise in the world.  All that gives you is a snapshot of the position prior to commencement of a contract.  If the supplier questionnaires are filed away, never to be looked at again, they quickly become obsolete.  Continuously updating those files is a laborious and time-consuming task – and is therefore expensive.

Say an accident occurs on site, or out in the field.  Your admin and legal teams will go into panic mode, hunting for the relevant PQQ, requesting updated information.  Hoping that the relevant qualification or certification is still in date, and that the proper risk assessments and processes have been implemented.

Contractual liability should, in theory, flow through the supply chain and sit where the problem occurs.  This is not always the case.  If a supplier (or its lawyers) can see a potential avenue toward avoiding or reducing a liability, they will almost certainly look to take it.  A party who has suffered injury or financial damage will not necessarily look to the person most culpable.  They will seek the person with the deepest pockets or the person with the reputation to protect.

Reputational damage rarely passes down a supply chain in the same way that contractual liability would be expected to flow.  The bigger the name, the bigger the reputation and the bigger the target for all those who might look to take a go – be it injured parties, press, the general public or regulators.  You can point to the supplier who was at fault, but Joe Bloggs Limited does not capture attention in anywhere near the same way as a household name client or a tier one contractor.

The world we live in has changed enormously over the past twenty years.  We have instant access to news and information.  We demand real time data.  It is becoming less and less acceptable or defensible to simply point the finger down the supply chain and say “it was their fault, we thought everything was fine”.

It is also no longer acceptable to say “I prefer using paper” or “this is how we have always done things”.  Your competitors will not tolerate this from their workforce.

Digitisation is key to proper supply chain and contractor management – unless you are prepared to dedicate a team of admin staff (and the huge cost that entails) to continually request and monitor supplier information.  Why not redirect your human resources to tasks and projects that will generate revenue?

Technology provides an audit trail that can evidence that things have been done properly, and are being done properly.  It provides factual evidence. It removes guesswork, doubt and wriggle room.

Real time data capture and real time reporting allow you a far greater understanding of how your supply chain is performing.  You can respond instantly to issues as they arise, instead of having to scramble after damage has already been done.

By proactively managing your supply chain, you can influence and guide how they perform.  You can promote best practice and efficiency that enables them to perform better and more cost effectively.  You can significantly reduce risk.  That all benefits everyone involved.

Few things are certain in these fast paced times.  This, however, I am prepared to say with total certainty.  Companies who embrace digitisation will thrive against those who are unwilling to accept or face change.  You must move ahead, or you will ultimately cease to exist.

To learn more about how Ctrl Hub can support you to manage your supply chain more effectively please visit our website in the first instance www.ctrl-hub.com