August 12, 2021 “Luncheon” Webinar – Edith Newton Wilson

Opportunities for Geoscientists in the New Energy Economy

Edith Newton Wilson, PhD, FGS, Rock Whisperer LLC, Tulsa, OK

Abstract:

What a difference a year makes.  Pandemic-driven changes in energy usage have accelerated demand for low-cost renewable resources as the world’s appetite for fossil fuels shrinks.  Renewable energy projects are delivering an order of magnitude higher return than share of fossil fuel companies, while providing more reliable and affordable energy options for all global citizens – and with lower carbon cost.  The new energy economy is here.

The talents of geoscientists will translate effectively to all aspects of the rapidly developing energy supply chain.  First, we bring our expertise to the problem of filling the rising demand for metals and other conductive materials used in batteries to power the Internet of Things, electric vehicles, distributed energy resources and utility systems.  The extractive industries that produce materials for energy storage will rely on sustainable development, environmental management, and proper social license now more than ever.  Geoscientists who explore for and extract critical minerals, or who devise ways of using old reservoirs to sequester carb on or new ways to create hydrogen fuel, will use skills from the oil and gas industry as well as familiar datasets , such as borehole records, surface geologic maps, rock mineralogy, and size statistics.  Predictive models of ore accumulation rely on mass transport calculations at assumed heat, pressure, brine composition and mineral equilibria, and are comparable to those used to understand oil generation, migration, and trapping.  Three dimensional geologic models to explore for and assess reserves of metals will benefit from enhanced geophysical techniques, including 3D seismic, as well as the application of play fairway analysis to better predict exploration corridors.  Mineralogy, crystallography, material science and nanotechnology will be increasingly essential skills as we onshore industrial processing as well as electrode design and manufacturing.  Optimization of battery chemistries and recycling metals from waste will also call on metallurgical and refining expertise.  Defining the heat resource, drilling, fracking, and circulating brines are key components to the successful exploitation of geothermal energy.  Structural geology and sedimentology studies remain crucial to proper siting, monitoring, and remediation of hydroelectric projects.  Solar and wind design and construction are fertile ground for the application of geography and GIS skills, and installation of electric infrastructure requires oil field expertise in both the surface and subsurface.

As we move from a society that extracts and uses up our energy resources to one that optimizes energy as a service, the most valuable talents we bring to the table may well be our creativity and thirst for discovery, as well as our willingness to embrace change.

Edith is the owner of Rock Whisperer LLC, where she works to engage emerging professionals in energy solutions for a changing world and consults on renewable energy and climate mitigation projects. Edith is a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists and the Geological Society of London, a member of the American Geophysical Union, and a founding member of the Geosciences Advisory Board at the University of Arkansas. In 2018-2019, she chaired the ad hoc Committee on Climate Change for the AAPG. She received her BA in Geology from Dartmouth College in 1982, and her MA and PHD in Carbonate Sedimentology from Johns Hopkins University in 1988. Her career in the energy industry began in Houston where she was an international explorer, negotiator and manager with Amoco and bp.  In Oklahoma, Edith worked with Phillips Petroleum on global new ventures, ConocoPhillips on leadership development, Samson Resources on domestic shale gas projects, and in 2008 co-founded TallGrass Energy.  Edith has traveled throughout the Americas, Europe, and Africa – where she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2004 – and is conversant in French, Italian and Portuguese.