- The World Biogas Summit and Expo will take place online from 6 to 8 October
- Physical event 2020 is cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic but will be reinstated from 2021 onwards
- The AD & Biogas Industry Awards ceremony 2020 on 8 October will also be online only
- From 2021, the Summit and Expo will be offered both as physical and virtual events to maximise trade opportunities for participants whilst helping reduce the events’ carbon footprint
The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) and World Biogas Association (WBA), organisers of the annual World Biogas Summit and World Biogas Expo, have announced that this year’s co-located events will now be held entirely online. Using a powerful virtual platform, the Summit and Expo taking place from 6 to 8 October 2020 will ensure the global biogas community remains connected despite the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and seizes the unique opportunities that the green recovery and climate change agendas represent for the industry. The events will be free to attend for delegates.
The biogas trade associations also revealed that once the health and safety constraints which 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 WBA’s objective is to support face-to-face trade, whilst simultaneously removing all geographical barriers to dialogue within the national and international biogas networks – enabling participants to gain totally unrestricted access to experience, expertise and innovation in the format of their choice. Most importantly, it will also demonstrate ADBA’s and WBA’s determination to reduce the carbon footprint of their own activities and contribute to the Net Zero targets set by governments, companies and industries around the world.
The three-day events will culminate on 8th October with an online ceremony to announce the winners of the 2020 AD & Biogas Industry Awards.
Charlotte Morton, ADBA 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. Whilst 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 energizing the industry, ahead of COP26, bringing an unprecedented number of local and international organisations and leaders from around the world to the table.”
David Newman, WBA President, added: “There are currently two top priorities for world governments: 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 is able to showcase the contribution the anaerobic digestion and biogas technologies can make, and to develop the business partnerships necessary to fulfill the industry’s potential to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 12% by 2030.”
