Vision and Mission

The International Gas Union (IGU) is a worldwide, nonprofit organization promoting the progress of the gas industry. Through its many member countries representing approximately 97% of global gas sales, IGU covers all aspects of the gas industry.

The IGU Vision and Mission were recently redefined to reflect changes in the global gas markets and the growth of the organization in recent years. The new Vision and Mission – approved at the IGU Council meeting in Paris, France, June 1, 2015 – reflect IGU’s Building for the Future outreach initiative and aim at making IGU a more proactive, focused and effective advocate for the global gas industry. With the changes, focus is moved towards IGU as the Global Voice of Gas and emphasis put on the fact that natural gas is a key contributor to people’s lives and futures.

Vision

As the global voice of gas, IGU seeks to improve the quality of life by advancing gas as a key contributor to a sustainable energy future.

Mission

◆ IGU is the key and credible advocate of political, technical and economic progress of the global gas industry, directly and through its members and in collaboration with other multilateral organizations. ◆ IGU works to improve the competitiveness of gas in the world energy markets by promoting transparency, public acceptance efforts and the removal of supply and market access barriers. ◆ IGU seeks to collaborate with governmental agencies and multilateral organizations to demonstrate the economic, social and environmental benefits of gas in the global energy mix. ◆ IGU supports and facilitates the development of new technologies and best practices, while emphasizing sound environmental performance, safety, reliability and efficiency across the entire value chain. ◆ IGU maximizes the value of its services to members and other stakeholders.

Contents April – September 2016

Vision and Mission 4

Message from the President and Secretary General 10

IGU Members and Organization 14

News from the Presidency and Secretariat 24

Building for the Future 35

IGU Council Meeting, Cartagena 36

Diplomatic Gas Forums in Washington DC and Oslo 40 Gas Seminar in Maputo, Mozambique Reports from the Regional Coordinators Update on the 27th World Gas Conference By Jay Copan News from Organizations Affiliated to IGU 42

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50

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Focus on Research & Development and Innovation

Committee Work for the 2015-2018 Triennium Takes Shape By Anette Sørum Nordal New Methane-Hydrogen Fuel Technology and its Potential Application in the Gas Industry By Oleg Aksyutin, Alexander Ishkov, Konstantin Romanov, Valery Khloptsov, Varazdat Kazaryan and Anatoly Stolyarevsky The Convergence of Power, Gas & Renewables By Hartmut Krause, Gerald Linke and Gert Müller-Syring

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78 Evaluation of Biological Methanation for Power-to-Gas Applications By Frank Graf and Gerald Linke

Features

Paris Agreement on Climate Presents both Opportunities and Challenges for Gas By Alex Forbes Enhancing Quality of Life by Reducing Emissions – Natural Gas and Urban Air Quality By Mel Ydreos Supply and Pricing Upheavals Thrust LNG Industry into Uncharted Territory By Alex Forbes Why New Waves of LNG from Australia and the US will Re-shape the Industry By Alex Forbes Policymakers and Industry Leaders will Discuss Dramatic Industry Changes and Challenges at LNG 18 By Barbara Jinks The History of GIIGNL By Jean-Yves Robin IPLOCA – 50 Years of Achievement By Juan Arzuaga Presenting IGU’s New Members Publications Available from IGU

Events and Acknowledgements

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The opinions and views expressed by the authors in this magazine are not necessarily those of IGU, its members or the publisher. While every care has been taken in the preparation of this magazine, they are not responsible for the authors’ opinions or for any inaccuracies in the articles. Unless otherwise stated, the dollar ($) values given in this magazine refer to the US dollar.

New Sustainable trench for gas distribution network developments

Sustainability has taken on great importance in the civil works field of activities, forcing professionals to combine society’s demands and requirements regarding high quality infrastructure with minimizing effects on surrounding areas and environmental friendliness. This has led Gas Natural Fenosa to apply this principle to its gas trench service by proposing a new solution.

This new proposal involves making maximum use of excavated earth for filling in trenches and covering over the tops of trenches, with the use of controlled expansion concrete.

This system is different from the method currently used, as excavated material extracted using trenchers is subsequently reused for filling in the trench instead of being taken to a landfill site. This eliminates or reduces the need to use aggregates, leading to lower consumption of raw materials, lower CO₂ emissions for transporting the extracted earth to the landfill and infill earth to the site, and less solid waste generated on site; at the same time, safety is improved as the number of operations are reduced. Furthermore, the use of expansive concrete, pigmented if necessary, as the top layer for covering over the trench, allows the creation of overly wide trenches and the addition of an asphalt agglomerate layer to be avoided.

New trench infill solution

The main new features of the proposed trench infill solution are the reuse of excavated material, obtained by trencher machines, for filling in the trench, and the use of an expansive concrete to compensate for the drying shrinkage that commonly occurs with this type of solution by adding calcium oxide (CaO), and to guarantee contact with the trench walls.

In addition, pigments should be used to ensure that the appearance of the uppermost layer of this concrete is similar to that of the adjoining asphalt.

This diagram shows the proposed solution’s profile, without any type of overlap with the existing paving surface.

Numerical model for validating the new solution

As part of the cross-disciplinary vision of the new trench solution study, a numerical simulation is proposed of the behaviour of the structure when submitted to the action of traffic loads. The fundamental aim is to establish how much the concrete has to expand to ensure contact between the trench and the adjoining earth, and that stresses are transmitted to this earth.

The parametric study conducted using finite element models found that the trench’s critical failure mode is shear failure.

Experimental concrete expansiveness study

The experimental expansiveness study was conducted at the Structures Technology Laboratory at Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya, involving a study of the internal stresses generated by confining expansive concrete.

The results obtained from the experimental work indicate that adding calcium oxide to the recommended contents of mortar or concrete mixes can create internal stresses to ensure adequate contact and prevent tensile or shear failures.

Experimenting with concrete pigment

The new trench infill solution offers the possibility, provided that it is permitted by the Administration, of eliminating the top layer of 5-8 cm of asphalt, using the layer of expansive concrete. In this case, the use of pigments is proposed to give the concrete paving surface a similar appearance to the existing asphalt paving surface.

Sustainability must be measured

The sustainability of the proposed new solution was studied using an Integrated Value Method for Sustainable Evaluations as a tool to aid decision making.

As part of this study, an Urban Trench Sustainability Index has been defined. The aim of this index is to serve as a tool for comparing construction alternatives and identifying which is most appropriate for each case from a sustainability point of view, that is, by conducting a joint appraisal of economic, environmental and social requirements.

Conclusions

Pilot tests conducted with the new trench infill solution have been very satisfactory, and excellent behaviour results have been obtained.

Numerical studies conducted to assess the trench’s behaviour confirm its technical viability, allowing the trench’s concrete layer to be reduced to 15 cm by using expansive concrete.

The elimination of the top layer of asphalt paving surface proposed in the new solution is possible through the use of concrete surface pigmentation. Experimental tests indicate that it is possible to achieve an appearance similar to a bituminous paving surface with this technique.

The Urban Trench Sustainability Index that has been developed is a fundamental tool for evaluating the sustainability of construction solutions for urban trenches. This index has made it possible to appraise the proposed solution as the most sustainable alternative when compared to other solutions.