Agenda - Speaker Bios

Natural Gas World (NGW), the global engagement and information platform for the natural gas value chain, presents its third Canadian Gas Dialogues conference – Innovation and Canada’s Natural Gas Value Chain: 21st Century Energy, 21st Century Opportunity – as a live event September 29, 2021 at the Calgary Petroleum Club.

The live Canadian Gas Dialogues – the first since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person conferences – will feature a keynote address from Dale Nally, Alberta’s associate minister of natural gas and electricity, and a luncheon armchair discussion led by industry veteran Mac Van Wielingen exploring capital challenges facing the natural gas industry during the energy transition.

Other confirmed participants include Cynthia Hansen, President Enbridge Gas Inc, Karen Harbert, President, American Gas Association, Khaled Abubakr, CEO TAQA Egypt, Graeme Feltham, President of APEX Utilities, John Bruce, Vice President Strategic Development at Carbon Engineering, Stephane Germaine, CEO of GHGSat, Dr David Layzell, research director at The Transition Accelerator, Scott Volk, Technology and Innovation Lead at Tourmaline Oil, Crystal Smith, chief councillor of Haisla Nation, Gregory Caldwell, Director of Energy Systems Innovation and Utility Hydrogen Strategy at ATCO, and Mike Leclair, Vice President of Major Projects at FortisBC.

Sessions at the day-long conference will focus on energy for a 21st century economy, building Canada’s low emission gaseous pathways, managing policy changes, new markets and technologies to get to a lower carbon future and emerging natural gas and energy leaders.

Session 1 – Energy for a 21^st Century Economy

Natural gas is seen as critical in the ongoing evolution of a lower emission energy economy. This panel, comprised of global leaders in natural gas, will explore the role for the cleanest fossil fuel as the world advances on the various targets being set. 

Session 2a – Building Canada’s Low Emission Gaseous Pathways – Alternative fuels

As the search for lower emission energy continues, hydrogen and renewable natural gas are emerging as key complements to natural gas in various applications. This session will discuss how blue and green hydrogen and RNG can contribute to Canada’s emission reduction efforts.

Session 2b – Building Canada’s Low Emission Gaseous Pathways – Avoided and Captured Emissions

While natural gas remains a critical fuel in the energy system, equally critical is reducing emissions along the natural gas value chain and capturing those emissions when they can’t be avoided. From satellite monitoring to innovations in point-source and direct air capture, this panel will examine how best to ensure natural gas remains relevant and sustainable in the energy system of the future. 

Overview of Gas Pathways and IGRC2024

The Canadian Gas Association, which holds Canada’s seat in the global industry association - the International Gas Union - will host the IGU’s 2024 International Gas Research Conference in Banff. CGA CEO Timothy Egan and IGRC Executive Director Julie Gaudreau will discuss the conference and the creation of Gas Pathways, a new multi-media communication platform dedicated to innovation and technology that will help promote IGRC2024. 

Luncheon and Armchair Discussion

The global energy transition presents a long and winding road for all stakeholders, and is more of an evolution than a revolution. With broad macro factors involved and no silver bullet to net zero, there are multiple overlapping objectives, some of which clash with others, and some which complement. In a wide-ranging discussion with Canadian capital providers, industry thought leader Mac Van Wielingen will discuss the strategic mindset that will be needed if Canada is to meet its net zero aspirations.

Session 3 – Managing Policy Challenges

In Canada, most federal policy initiatives are directed towards encouraging investments in renewable energy technologies, broader electrification of many sectors of the economy, support for municipalities as they develop green energy pathways, and support for companies searching to move away from fossil energy. This panel will discuss how Canada’s natural gas industry can remain relevant in the face of those policy challenges.

Session 4a – Emerging Opportunities – Emerging Markets

Rapid innovation in delivering cleaner natural gas is opening many on-ramps to a lower emission future, with new markets emerging for natural gas in remote power, marine fuel, home heating and cooling, on-road transportation and other applications. This panel will discuss some of these.

Session 4b – Emerging Opportunities – Energy Leadership for the Future

A new breed of Canadian thought leaders is emerging in the midst of the very challenging energy conversation occurring today. In this panel, a few of those leaders – representing First Nations, energy workers, technology innovators and social media commentators – discuss how they are building the future energy system and supporting Canada’s natural gas industry.

 Canadian Gas Dialogues is a platform designed to bring together the spectrum of stakeholders in the natural gas community for the exchange and sharing of insight and viewpoints on how we can collectively move forward the position of the industry in local, national and global communities.  

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