{"id":6058,"date":"2023-07-05T17:08:09","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T15:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/?p=6058"},"modified":"2025-08-29T10:25:27","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T08:25:27","slug":"energy-gases-standards-and-the-energy-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/energy-gases-standards-and-the-energy-transition\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy gases, standards and the energy transition"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section full_width=”stretch_row” content_placement=”middle” css=”.vc_custom_1686644097452{background-image: url(https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/gas-symposium.jpg?id=6066) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}” el_class=”main_header gradient_header dg-position-realtive”][vc_row equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle” el_class=”dg-header–small”][vc_column width=”5\/6″ el_class=”dg-padding-none full_width_responsive”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1756455924334{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}” el_class=”text-white”]Published on July 5th 2023<\/ins><\/p>\n

Energy gases, standards and the energy transition<\/h1>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_section el_class=”dg-padding-mid”][vc_row equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top”][vc_column el_class=”full_width_responsive dg-padding-none”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

News<\/p>\n

International symposium \u2018Renewable energy gases in the changing world of natural gas\u2019 on 19th June in the Netherlands<\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]In the context of the energy transition, it is highly unlikely that we will move away from natural gas all at once. A long transition period of blending \u201cgreen\u201d gases such as biomethane and green hydrogen is more likely. What does this mean for standards and measurement methods in this field? NEN and National Metrology Institute VSL are holding an international symposium about it on the 19th of June.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top”][vc_column el_class=”full_width_responsive dg-padding-none”][vc_column_text]By Michiel G.J. Smit<\/p>\n

In principle, the ISO\/TC 193 Natural gas Technical Committee meets somewhere in the world every year. \u201cBut due to the Corona virus, we hadn\u2019t met since our last physical meeting in 2019, in Bejing,\u201d says Adriaan van der Veen, President of ISO\/TC 193 and chief scientist at National Metrology Institute VSL. This year, there will finally be another physical meeting of the Technical Committee, and it will be in the Netherlands. \u201cWe will take the opportunity to organise a symposium prior to the ISO\/TC 193 meetings,\u201d says Nicolet Baas, secretary of the Technical Committee and standardisation consultant at NEN\u2019s Electro & Energy cluster, and closely involved in organising the symposium. \u201cThe experts come here anyway because of the meetings. This is an excellent opportunity to share the work and insights with a broad international audience, because we think it is important to also share our insights with a broader group than the experts alone. Users of our products, for example: it is useful for them to be aware of the latest developments; they can adjust their business strategies accordingly. Who knows, they may also have questions that we can address with our work.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top”][vc_column el_class=”full_width_responsive dg-padding-none”][vc_column_text]Dynamics in the field<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is not only the Technical Committee meeting that gives rise to the symposium, but also the dynamics in the field itself. Adriaan van der Veen explains \u201cI would dare to predict that we will be using natural gas in our energy supply for decades to come, even if the energy transition goes smoothly. We are at the beginning of a long period of blending energy gases and making them ever greener. This constitutes a large amount of work in terms of standards development and metrology in this area. Firstly, much of the system can be retained, saving us a great deal of work, which is particularly true for biomethane. Although its origin and production is different from natural gas, it has been upgraded to \u2018natural gas quality\u2019, so new standards are not needed for measuring its quality. At the same time, biomethane often contains impurities, some of which are also new when compared to natural gas, so that does call for additional standards and measurement methods.\u201d
\nWith regard to hydrogen, and the blending of natural gas with hydrogen, there is plenty more work for standards developers, argues Nicolet Baas. \u201cIt has substantially different properties to natural gas, particularly its higher volatility, which means additional or different safety requirements, for example.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top”][vc_column el_class=”full_width_responsive dg-padding-none”][vc_column_text]Interaction of different gases<\/strong><\/p>\n

Consequently, the \u2018new\u2019 energy gases, such as pure hydrogen, sometimes require additional standards, which other standards committees are looking into. But don\u2019t forget the interaction of the various gases, Nicolet stresses. \u201cA lot of attention is currently being paid to odorising mixtures of natural gas and hydrogen, i.e. adding a scent that causes alarm in the event of a gas leak. We already do that to natural gas, but that odour is not automatically suitable for use with hydrogen. The search is on to find exactly the right scent for every possible composition and ratio we may encounter during the energy transition.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top”][vc_column el_class=”full_width_responsive dg-padding-none”][vc_column_text]Physical meetings more suitable than virtual<\/strong><\/p>\n

The aim of the symposium is to bring such issues to the attention of a wide, international audience. Adriaan welcomes the personal, physical nature of the meeting. \u201cUnofficial chats in the lobby play a key role in many important issues, and to this day we cannot simulate them well in a virtual environment. In the lobby, you can raise something you don\u2019t want to share with everyone right away. Moreover, it deepens existing contacts. It acts like a lubricant in a consultative circuit such as this.\u201d
\nNicolet also strongly prefers physical meetings to virtual ones. \u201cWe want to attract a broad group, which includes many people who do not yet know each other. Getting to know each other really requires a physical meeting, so that people can look each other in the eye. That can help enormously if you have to reach consensus on something at a later stage or come to a compromise with someone.\u201d
\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top”][vc_column el_class=”full_width_responsive dg-padding-none”][vc_column_text]China<\/strong><\/p>\n

China is also represented at the symposium. Adriaan says \u201cThat emphasises the international nature of the symposium and the fact that we can complete the energy transition faster and better if we work together. In China, for example, a lot of mine gas is available, but it is hardly taken seriously here in Europe – there aren\u2019t even any standards for measuring its composition. While its similarity to biomethane, in terms of particulate concentration, is great.\u201d Geopolitics is deliberately left out of this, by the way. \u201cAs engineers and scientists, we want to create optimal conditions for co-operation on the energy transition. And specifically for ISO\/TC 193: let\u2019s make optimal use of everything we have developed in terms of standards and measurement methods for natural gas in the energy transition\u201d concludes Nicolet.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top”][vc_column el_class=”full_width_responsive dg-padding-none”][vc_column_text]The symposium \u2018Renewable energy gases in the changing world of natural gas\u2019 will take place in Delft on 19th June. See https:\/\/symposium-renewable-energy-gases.nen-evenementen.nl\/<\/a> for more information.<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

International symposium \u2018Renewable energy gases in the changing world of natural gas\u2019 on 19th June in the Netherlands<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6067,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[81,79,44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy-and-climate","category-health-and-environment","category-news","category-81","category-79","category-44","description-off"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEnergy gases, standards and the energy transition - VSL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vsl.nl\/en\/news\/energy-gases-standards-and-the-energy-transition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Energy gases, standards and the energy transition - 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