Northern Gas Networks will take a drive into the future this July at the Northumbrian Water Innovation Festival.

The gas distributer for the North of England is leading the Future Fleet sprint at the annual five-day event held at Newcastle Racecourse, between July 9-13.

NGN’s hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai

Bringing around 1,000 of the UK’s most creative minds together to harness pioneering thinking and unique ideas, the festival is an opportunity to present current industry challenges and work through solutions in order to generate new innovations and products.

NGN’s sprint will focus on the future of transport, exploring travel trends, clean fuels and new vehicles, discussing key issues, challenges and their potential impact on industry, with the aim of finding new ways to tackle them.

Held in collaboration with VLP and Northumbrian Water, the sessions will be facilitated by experts from a wide range of related companies, including Green Road, Toyota and IVECO.

Transport is a key focus for the gas distributer, as the UK looks towards a cleaner, greener energy future.

Finding low carbon ways to power its fleet while minimising impact on the environment has seen NGN exploring new options in last few years, including compressed natural gas vehicles and hydrogen cars.

Among the questions being covered will be:

• What type of fuel will we all be using to power journeys in the future?
• Will we continue to buy and own vehicles, or just rent as we need?
• How would any radical changes affect our working lives?
• And what impact might they have on our homes and living spaces?

Keith Owen, Head of Systems Development and Energy Strategy at Northern Gas Networks said: “As the UK continues its journey to decarbonisation, we cannot overlook the impact of transport and its contribution to carbon emissions. At the moment, the vehicles we use for our everyday journeys rely on fossil fuels but it’s time to look beyond these.

“The Future Fleet sprint will explore innovative new options and pioneering technology which could transform transport in the UK. From compressed natural gas and electric to hydrogen, we’ll be examining the impact they could have on our lives, our homes and on industry.”

To find out what the Future Fleet sprint team comes up with during the festival you can follow all of the action live on social media by following @NGNgas on twitter and facebook or by visiting www.innovationfestival.org.