CCS by an ECR at the EGU..........Got that? An Early Career Researcher in Vienna
I’m Chris Gent, a geologist at The British Geological
Survey. I work in deep geology under the umbrella of the Energy Systems and
Basin Analysis team based in Keyworth, just south of Nottingham. I work in many
different areas associated with subsurface data including: geophysical log
interpretation, basin modelling, and 3D seismic interpretation. This April I
was granted early career researcher (ECR) funding internally and from the GeoEnergy
Research Centre (GERC) to attend and present at the European Geosciences Union
(EGU) annual general assembly in Vienna, Austria. The research I presented
centred on a potential carbon capture and storage (CCS) site in the Central
North Sea, with my poster titled ‘CO2 Storage Potential of the
Eocene Tay Sandstone, Central North Sea’.
Vienna once again hosted the annual general assembly of the
EGU. In stark contrast to the baroque streets and imperial grandeur of central
Vienna, a short metro journey across the Danube takes you to the metropolitan
Vienna International Centre, which this year accommodated over 14,000
scientists from 107 countries for one week of presentations, posters and
networking. Through the recommended hotels list I was booked a quirky modern
hotel in the east of the city, around 25 minutes away from the conference venue
and 10 minutes from the city centre. The previous week I had taken some time to
go travelling around southern Austria, where the weather was unseasonably cold
and snowy. After a short train ride from chilly Salzburg I arrived in a
gloriously sunny Vienna, where brave marathon runners were finishing in their
dribs-and-drabs. After checking-in I hopped on the metro to the conference
centre to begin my own marathon, of sorts, beginning with registration and the
ice-breaker.
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| The Metropolitan Vienna International Centre. Photo by Dr Lola Rey (Twitter: lolareyv) from Cranfield University |
I had a few days to
get into the swing of things before my poster presentation Thursday evening. I
attended many interesting sessions, including ‘Energy, Resources & the
Environment’, ‘Fractures and Flow in Tight Reservoirs’ and various tectonic
sessions. To watch some of the best scientists in their field communicate their
science was very useful for an ECR, not only to understand current research but
also to watch how the science was presented. In recent years, EGU has become
increasingly influenced by ECRs with over half of delegates this year
identifying as ECRs. I attended several ECR meetings giving me an opportunity
to discuss my work and experience with others in a similar situation. I had
some particularly engaging conversations with ECRs from the University of
Strasbourg, Herriot Watt University and Delft University, which hopefully will
lead to future collaboration.
I presented my poster on Thursday in the ‘The future of
geo-energy: understanding the subsurface for safer energy production and
storage’ poster session. Posters covered a broad range of technologies from CO2
storage to gas storage, hydo-power and geothermal energy. I was kept very busy
over my 90 minute slot, with the wide range of specialities on show this led to
interesting conversations with CO2 storage specialists to the
inquisitive with no prior knowledge on CCS. With a dry throat after the session
I went with a few ECRs into Vienna to tuck into a local beer and the compulsory
Weiner Schnitzel.
Attendance at the conference was a complete eye opener to me
on the large-scale high-quality geoscience research across Europe. It has been
a brilliant opportunity to make many ECR contacts in various research
institutes and universities, which hopefully with endure throughout my career. For
any ECR interested in Europe-wide science and cross-institution collaborations
I encourage you to attend, keeping an eye on social media, especially the EGU
twitter and individual division twitters can help you keep track of events. I’m
sure I will be heading back to present in the foreseeable future.
*You can keep up to date with GERC activities on our social media channels*
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