PoulErik

DTU professor receives Danish gas award

Energi Bioenergi Energisystemer
Professor Poul Erik Morhost was presented with the Danish Gas Award for 2017 for his extraordinary work in the research project Future Gas which brings together industry and researchers across several European countries. The project examines how the Danish gas system can be best utilized in Denmark’s transition towards becoming a fossil fuel-free society.

In his capacity as Deputy Board Chairman of the Danish Gas Technology Centre Anders Vikkelsø explained the Centre’s justification for making the award:

“In 2014, on Poul Erik Morthorst’s initiative, the gas sector and DTU, sought to jointly define and apply for a research project intended to identify the gas and energy systems of the future. After two years’ work, Innovation Fund Denmark granted funding for a temporary four-year project called Future Gas. Future Gas ensures coordinated research and development across the gas sector and one of its chief objectives is to analyse how we can use gas in the future to ensure maximum benefit for society.”

Joining forces across research and industry
The Future Gas project brings together researchers from the Netherlands, the UK, Italy, and Sweden. Together with the gas industry, the goal is to find economic and effective solutions that make gas a viable alternative to fossil fuels—including how we promote the transition to biogas.

“We are working along several professional tracks. DTU’s contribution is primarily within systems analysis, where we are trying to refine models for the entire gas system which take into account the distribution and purchase and sale between countries, storage, green technologies, coherence with electricity and the district heating system, and—of course—how we use the gas in the smartest possible way,” says Poul Erik, who is proud to have received the gas award.

Gas as part of the green transformation
Gas can be used as a source of energy in industry, for CHP—but also as fuel in the transport sector The advantage of gas is, among other things, that the gas infrastructure already exists in Denmark with pipes in the ground and storage facilities, but there are still several challenges that need to be addressed before gas can be used in the green transformation.

“One of the challenges is quality. You can’t just replace natural gas with biogas, which is why, among other things, the project is examining how we can upgrade biogas to natural gas quality in an efficient and financially sound way—but we’re also looking at when it’s most appropriate to use biogas directly,” says Poul Erik.

The Future Gas project is supported—among others—by Innovation Fund Denmark and will run until 2020.