Adaptability is key!

BVAA are Industry Partners to the ChemUK show and we are delighted to be exhibiting again on the 10^th/11^th May at the NEC. 

BVAA’s attendance at new and innovative exhibitions like ChemUK are demonstrations of our support for ALL the industries that need to know more about the eponymous valve and where to get the right one, and to understand how different each industry’s needs are to another’s.

This all reminded me that 10 years ago, I invited one of Houston’s leading oil and gas experts to address the gathering of the BVAA-member chief executives at the Association’s AGM.  He was a learned professor, an author of distinction, and with a pedigree in the petroleum industry as long as your arm.  He was engaged to talk to us about the future of oil and gas… 

At times mischievous and disparaging, one thing upon which our speaker could not be shifted was his view on the unceasing need for fossil fuels.  ‘Another 200 years’ was his firm forecast.  

Ten years on, the climate obviously looks quite different.  The goal is for the UK to reach net zero by 2050.  ‘The UK gets 73% of its total energy from gas and oil…’ said OGUK in a recent press release.  Add in wind, nuclear and other renewables, and it’s easy to work out that energy from hydrogen is currently non-existent at commercial levels.

A great deal of R&D – and government funding for it – is needed for the nation to be able to say with confidence that we no longer need fossil fuels.  Setting a timetable without a transition plan is folly. 

Valves and actuators are going to play the most critical part in delivering the H2 dream i.e. control and containment, and members of the BVAA stand ready for this energy revolution.  We’ve been providing solutions to difficult problems for centuries.  Our industry’s adaptability has meant that each new application, with its unique and challenging demands, has been successfully addressed. 

The depth of knowledge and experience in the British valve industry is second to none and with a little help from out national government, who set this ambitious H2 target, we can make our vital contribution and Make Hydrogen Happen.

Published: 21st April 2023