This August, professionals from industry, government, and academia will gather in Sydney, Australia, for the 2025 Center for Hydrogen Safety (CHS) Asia-Pacific Conference, taking place from August 12 to 14. As hydrogen continues to gain momentum in the global energy landscape, this conference provides a timely forum to examine how safety practices must evolve to support innovation, scale, and public trust.
We caught up with Conference Chair Liana Bonnette to learn what drives her commitment to hydrogen safety, how her perspective has evolved through experience, and how this year’s event provides vital real-world insights, open dialogue, and industry-wide progress.
What first inspired you to get involved in hydrogen safety, and how did that lead to your role as co-chair of the CHS Asia-Pacific Conference?
My hydrogen journey began in 1999, commissioning an ammonia plant in Australia. Initially focused on engineering performance, my perspective shifted after a syngas release incident that seriously injured a colleague. That moment sparked my deep interest in process safety and the need to embed safety into hydrogen systems from design through the entire lifecycle.
I've since built a career around safety in design and risk-based decision-making. As hydrogen re-emerged on the energy agenda, I've engaged with cross-industry initiatives focused on hydrogen ignition and consequence phenomena. Despite my background, I remain aware of how much we still need to learn as we innovate new use cases.
The CHS Asia-Pacific Conference is more than a technical forum—it's a platform for open knowledge sharing and creating a safer future for workers, communities, and the industry.
As a volunteer on the committee, how has your perspective on hydrogen safety evolved through organizing this conference?
Since joining the committee in 2021, I've seen how the conference brings together professionals from industry, academia, and government to share technical insights, standards, and lessons learned from real-world incidents. This breadth deepens our collective understanding.
One valuable outcome is how it supports seasoned experts and newcomers alike. For early-career professionals, the conference provides access to knowledge and networks that shape competency development.
This experience has reinforced my belief that hydrogen safety is a shared responsibility. The more we create spaces for open, rigorous dialogue, the more resilient and trusted our industry becomes.
What are the key themes or sessions at the 2025 conference that excite you most, and why do they matter for the industry?
The breadth of themes reflects how far we've progressed since 2021. From fundamental safety principles to mobility, storage, and regulatory integration, the scope mirrors hydrogen's evolution across sectors.
I'm most excited about sessions grounded in real-world experience, particularly those that examine incidents and lessons learned from operating facilities. These offer invaluable insight into how risk manifests in practice.
I'm also keen to explore how Australian Standards are being applied to domestic projects and where gaps exist. That's where national leadership can influence design and operational decisions as we move from strategy to execution.
How do you envision strengthening hydrogen safety standards across Asia-Pacific, especially as the region accelerates toward a hydrogen economy?
Strengthening hydrogen safety across Asia-Pacific requires more than codes or international standards. While frameworks are foundational, we need to go further.
Standards should be a baseline, not a finish line. We must design for uncertainty and real-world variability, embedding safety into design and governance from day-one through early hazard analysis and consequence modeling.
We also need to build capability, not just competency. While formal qualifications matter, critical thinking and strong risk understanding are equally essential.
Another key area is strengthening the feedback loop between incident learning and continuous improvement. We must move faster from incident to insight to action, which is why informal sharing among operators, consultants, and regulators is crucial.
Finally, we need strong safety culture and risk-based decision-making. Many hydrogen safety challenges require mature, risk-informed leadership with cross-disciplinary understanding and the ability to make deliberate, transparent decisions under pressure.
Learn more about the 2025 Center for Hydrogen Safety Asia-Pacific Conference and register today.
About CHS
The Center for Hydrogen Safety is a global non-profit dedicated to promoting hydrogen safety and best practices worldwide. It provides education, guidance, and collaborative forums to support the safe production, handling, and use of hydrogen. One of its key events is the biennial Asia-Pacific Conference, where experts from industry, government, and academia share knowledge and advance hydrogen safety across sectors.
