EmTech Europe in Titanic Belfast on 1-2 July will showcase the most brilliant minds across Europe tackling the climate emergency with breakthrough technologies.

But the MIT Technology Review-partnered conference will also shine a light on the trailblazing entrepreneurs closer to home who are at the cutting edge of green-tech.
Already RYZE of Ballymena — formerly Wrightbus – is making waves with its hyrodgen-powered buses but clean energy company Artemis, building the first electric catarmaran in Belfast harbour, also has wind in its sails. Led by Olympian Iain Percy – who will speak at EmTech Europe — the company is using Formula 1 technology to engineer a new type of seagoing vessel. 

Keeping pace with their clean energy efforts is veteran windpower entrepreneur David Surplus of B9 Energy who will present at EmTech on his joint project with Phoenix Natural Gas to split water, through electrolysis, into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is a cleaner alternative to our current natural gas supply while the oxygen is being used to speed up the treatment of sewage, thus relieving pressure on our creaking infrastructure. 

B9 has also built its own electrolysiser which is now on site outside Belfast in a pilot programme which could create a thousand jobs and reduce reliance on carbon fuels.  

At a stretch, those three projects alone have the potential to create 3,000 jobs — but the revolution doesn’t stop there. For the NI Housing Executive has ambitious plans to retrofit its housing stock to cut down on energy use while the new Innovation City Belfast initiative is based around the desire to build a ‘fairer, greener economy’.

Lord Mayor Kate Nicholl and Belfast City Council Digital Innovation Commissioner Jayne Brady will outline at EmTech the City Hall goal “to transition Belfast to an inclusive, zero-emission, climate-resilient economy in a generation”.

The energy revolution is on the way — the only question now is who will benefit from the employment opportunities thrown up by the race to go green? Which local companies can follow the lead of Barcelona electric vehicle charger manufacturer Wallbox which is about to go public on the New York Stock Exchange with a valuation of $1.5bn?

With cheap, unlimited wind power in Ireland, the opportunity is here to be seized, says David Surplus of B9 Energy. "The ball is in our court," he said. "If we move swiftly, we can be the guys who manufacture and distribute electrolysisers to the world rather than have someone else sell them to us."

To find out more, register online for EmTech Europe.