World Biogas Summit and Expo goes virtual for 2020
This year’s World Biogas Summit and Expo will be hosted entirely online for the first time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event, run by the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) and the World Biogas Association (WBA), will take place on 6-8 October.
ADBA and the WBA will host the event on an interactive platform that will match attendees with exhibitors and other delegates from the UK and all over the world via video chat and allow them to book meetings, as well as attend live seminar and panel sessions. The event will also host live product demos from exhibitors.
The two organisations said that once the health and safety constraints that have forced them to cancel this year’s NEC Birmingham event are lifted, they will introduce a new “hybrid” physical/virtual set-up, as the standard design to future editions. ADBA and the WBA’s objective is to support face-to-face trade, while simultaneously removing all geographical barriers to dialogue within the national and international biogas networks.
Charlotte Morton, ADBA’s chief executive, said: “Something we’ve all learnt from the tragedy of the pandemic is that it is now possible to connect with each other wherever we are in the world and that we can carry on working and communicating effectively without the need to travel long distances.
“While the virtual 2020 World Biogas Summit and Expo will ensure our sector continues to thrive, the launch of the hybrid format in 2021 will represent a new milestone in energising the industry, ahead of COP26, bringing an unprecedented number of local and international organisations and leaders from around the world to the table.”
“There are currently two top priorities for world governments,” added David Newman, WBA president, “the short-term need to recover from the economic recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with calls from all strata of society for that recovery to be green, and the long-term, ongoing need to address climate change and develop a sustainable circular economy for this and generations to come.
“By setting up an online event this year, and a hybrid platform from 2021 onwards, we want to make sure that the sector can showcase the contribution anaerobic digestion and biogas technologies can make, and develop the business partnerships necessary to fulfil the industry’s potential to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 12% by 2030.”
The event, run by the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) and the World Biogas Association (WBA), will take place on 6-8 October.
ADBA and the WBA will host the event on an interactive platform that will match attendees with exhibitors and other delegates from the UK and all over the world via video chat and allow them to book meetings, as well as attend live seminar and panel sessions. The event will also host live product demos from exhibitors.
The two organisations said that once the health and safety constraints that have forced them to cancel this year’s NEC Birmingham event are lifted, they will introduce a new “hybrid” physical/virtual set-up, as the standard design to future editions. ADBA and the WBA’s objective is to support face-to-face trade, while simultaneously removing all geographical barriers to dialogue within the national and international biogas networks.
Charlotte Morton, ADBA’s chief executive, said: “Something we’ve all learnt from the tragedy of the pandemic is that it is now possible to connect with each other wherever we are in the world and that we can carry on working and communicating effectively without the need to travel long distances.
“While the virtual 2020 World Biogas Summit and Expo will ensure our sector continues to thrive, the launch of the hybrid format in 2021 will represent a new milestone in energising the industry, ahead of COP26, bringing an unprecedented number of local and international organisations and leaders from around the world to the table.”
“There are currently two top priorities for world governments,” added David Newman, WBA president, “the short-term need to recover from the economic recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with calls from all strata of society for that recovery to be green, and the long-term, ongoing need to address climate change and develop a sustainable circular economy for this and generations to come.
“By setting up an online event this year, and a hybrid platform from 2021 onwards, we want to make sure that the sector can showcase the contribution anaerobic digestion and biogas technologies can make, and develop the business partnerships necessary to fulfil the industry’s potential to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 12% by 2030.”
