On 11 and 12 November 2008, gat 2008 in Dortmund offers visitors some attractive additional features focussing on innovative natural gas applications.

What are the consequences of national and international climate policy for the gas industry? How is the industry reacting to changes in market behaviour on the part of customers? How are companies facing up to increasing regulatory and cost pressures? These key questions for the future of the gas industry will be at the centre of attention at gat 2008 in Dortmund. With a topical blend of technical and political themes, gat attracts about 3,000 visitors every year, making it the largest gas industry conference in Germany.

New features at the exhibition

An innovation at this year's exhibition shows that gat is continuously developing, especially with respect to innovative applications of natural gas. Two natural gas industry forums will supplement the discussion forums, dealing in greater depth with the EUP Directive and smart metering.

European requirements for energy-efficient products (EUP directive):

• Opportunities offered by the European EUP directive for appliance and component manufacturers
• Micro- and mini-CHP plants
• Intelligent combustion

IT-assisted energy services for optimizing energy utilization and network control (possible applications of smart metering):

• General conditions and activities
• Two interdisciplinary projects
• View of European manufacturers

Natural gas innovation forum

Once again, one of the main focuses at this year's gat will be innovations with and using natural gas. Natural gas has a key role to play in sustainable energy supplies in the present and future. Many innovations confirm that this is a future-oriented source of energy.

The "Natural gas innovation forum … full of ideas for the future" will give an overview of trends and the stage reached in the development of natural gas innovations, concentrating on:

• gas-fired heat pumps
• micro- and mini-CHJP plants
• cooling with natural gas
• home refuelling stations

The natural gas innovation forum can be found in Hall 3B (Technology forum in exhibition).

As a further attraction at the exhibition, DVGW has installed a training wall in the forums. Here, delegates will have an opportunity of putting their practical gas installation knowledge to the test on "special installations".

– the gas industry answer to electric heat pumps– new sensor technologies to optimize combustion with reference to fluctuations in gas composition

Further Information: www.gat-dvgw.de