Skip to content
Type
Lecture

Northern Geotechnical Group Seminar 2024: energy geotechnics

Event organised by ICE

Date
23 October 2024
Time
13:30 - 17:30 BST (GMT+1)
Location
The Common Room
Neville Hall
Westgate Road
Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 1SE
United Kingdom

This event has now ended

Overview

This year's Northern Geotechnical Group Seminar will discuss energy geotechnics. With five presentations from industry experts and a look at this year's Young Engineers Geotechnical Poster Competition entrants, this seminar is not one to be missed. 

The Future of Geoenergy: a Perspective – Prof Jon Gluyas, Durham University
Energy from Earth resources (geoenergy) in the form of coal, oil and gas has fueled global society since the Industrial Revolution began.  Amongst the consequences of fueling society and associated population growth, is climate change, driven by the emission of greenhouse gases liberated through unabated combustion of fossil fuels.  
There is much more to Earth energy systems though than just coal oil and gas.  The Earth contains, in human terms, an unlimited supply of accessible heat and pressure (differences) as well as copious quantities of storage space, non-hydrocarbon gases and valuable solutes.  These resources can be targeted to provide sustainable energy sources with low to zero carbon footprints.
This talk will highlight that, when considering geoenergy, society needs to look at the whole system which combines chemical, thermal, potential, kinetic, gravitational, and other energy forms that could be used from individual developments to minimize waste, maximize efficiency and reduce unwanted impacts.

Underground Hydrogen Storage in the East Coast Cluster – Dr Tim Armitage, British Geological Survey
Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier that may be used to decarbonise heavy industry and act as a long duration energy storage medium, balancing interseasonal demand with intermittent renewable energy generation. In the UK, salt cavern storage is widely considered the “flagship” solution for hydrogen due to technical maturity and abundant capacity within UK geology. The East Coast Cluster hosts one of the UK’s largest salt basins and is collocated with Teesside and Humberside industrial clusters, leading to widespread interest in the region’s ability to deliver large-scale hydrogen storage capacity. However, few studies have matched forecast hydrogen storage demand with the region’s potential capacity using a system-level approach.
This study conducted a bottom-up analysis of hydrogen demand across the East Coast Cluster to determine the required hydrogen storage capacity and rate of uptake. The study identified significant barriers, principally temporal constraints, from long lead times prohibiting salt cavern deployment. Comprehensive stakeholder engagement across the value chain has informed a ranked set of policy interventions to accelerate salt cavern development and diversify UK Long duration energy storage technologies to mitigate these barriers.

The Next Steps for Geothermal Energy in the UK – Jason Boddy, Arup 
Jason’s talk will describe Geothermal potential in the UK, challenges to investment and the action needed to overcome this, together with more recent developments in the UK.

Managing Risk and Uncertainty in Offshore Wind Farms Through Geophysical Site Investigation - Dr Dan Morgan, ScottishPower Renewables.
Dan will share industry-leading examples of the use of geophysical site investigation to manage risk and uncertainty in challenging offshore environments. This will cover techniques from a range of project examples and explain how the outcomes impact assessment of offshore wind farm sites.

Harnessing Geothermal Energy from Abandoned Mines: My ‘Boring’ Story - Ben Cornish, Igne
Ben will discuss his practical experience from drilling boreholes and constructing systems for the extraction of geothermal energy from abandoned mine workings in the UK. His talk will draw on past experience and provide an insight into what the future may hold for this green energy source.

The Young Engineers Geotechnical Poster Competition 2024 will also take place at the seminar. Entrants will be awarded free entry to the seminar. For further information please contact [email protected]. Notification of intent to submit a poster should be sent to the aforementioned email address no later than 9 October 2024 and must include:

  • A written abstract detailing the geotechnical poster theme and title (submitted as a single pdf file, containing 300 words maximum and up to two illustrations).
  • Details of the author including: name, date of birth, organisation, qualifications, previous experience and contact details (address and telephone number).

Given the size of the venue, the number of poster submission may need to be short-listed.  Shortlisting will be undertaken by the judging panel on the strength of the abstracts submitted. Entrants who have been shortlisted will be notified by 16 October 2024.

Exhibition spaces are available for purchase. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

Registered students may attend free of charge but must reserve their place. 

Speakers

Dr Tim Armitage

Dr Tim Armitage

British Geological Survey (BGS)

geoscientist

Read more

Dr Tim Armitage

Dr Tim Armitage is a geoscientist at the British Geological Survey (BGS) Energy Storage research group where he investigates the geological storage for energy, such as through underground hydrogen storage in salt caverns and depleted gas fields. Tim has a strong technical background founded by a PhD and postdoc in geoscience and geoenergy. During his postdoc, Tim produced the UK Integrated Hydrogen Storage Database, an open-access GIS tool that helps pre-feasibility studies to co-locate hydrogen storage with production, transport, and demand.

His technical skillset is coupled with experience of the wider energy system and hydrogen policy landscape gained through consultancy for energy producers, gas distribution networks, market regulators and government on hydrogen storage in the UK. Of note, he has helped shape the UK Government’s Hydrogen Storage Business Model, a seminal piece of government support enhancing UK hydrogen storage capacity and has presented evidence on hydrogen storage to the House of Lords as part of an inquiry into Long Duration Energy Storage. Tim promotes the need for energy storage in a decarbonised grid and the significant upscale of energy storage in the UK.

Prof Jon Gluyas

Prof Jon Gluyas

Durham University

Orstad/Ikon chair in geoenergy, carbon capture and storage

Read more

Prof Jon Gluyas

Prof Gluyas is Orsted/Ikon Chair in Geoenergy, Carbon Capture & Storage in the Department of Earth Sciences at Durham University and a member of Durham Energy Institute Advisory Board in the Durham Energy Institute. Jon is an international leader in exploration for commercial quantities of Helium and the use of abandoned and late-life petroleum fields for supplying geothermal energy, as well as the possibility of geothermal energy from deep karst in Carboniferous limestones.

Jon has held the roles of chairman of the board of the BGS, president of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain and chairman of EPSRC/NERC/TSB/DECC UK CCS Research Centre Development Board. He has also held editorial roles for various research publications and chaired numerous conferences on geothermal energy and petroleum geology. 

Jason Boddy

Jason Boddy

Arup

associate director

Read more

Jason Boddy

Jason Boddy is a chartered Civil Engineer, an associate director with engineering consultants Arup and has over 30 years of experience as a geotechnical engineer. He leads the ground engineering team in Arup’s North region and is based in their Newcastle office. He was formerly the chair of the Institution of Civil Engineers North East region, the Northern Geotechnical Group and currently is the chair of Newcastle University’s Civil Engineering Industrial Advisory Board.  

He is passionate about tackling climate change, promoting carbon reduction and finding sustainable solutions in the field of ground engineering, and with the BGS, co-authored the white paper on Unlocking Geothermal Investment in the UK last year, and is currently the project director on Arup’s Geothermal Heat and Power cost review for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero.

Dr Dan Morgan

Dr Dan Morgan

Scottish Power Renewables

lead geophysicist

Read more

Dr Dan Morgan

Dr. Dan Morgan is a lead geophysicist for Scottish Power Renewables; Dan has developed geophysical site investigations for windfarms all over the world and has supported the majority of the Iberdrola portfolio. A structural geologist by training, Dan started his career working in the oil and gas sector working as a seismic interpreter, before moving into consultancy supporting offshore energy and onshore infrastructure projects. He has been with Scottish Power for the past four years. Dan currently sits on a number of committees supporting the advancement of geophysics to better de-risk offshore windfarm development.  

Ben Cornish

Ben Cornish

Igne

director of water wells

Read more

Ben Cornish

Ben Cornish BSc (Hons) has over a decade of experience in the UK domestic drilling industry. Ben leads Igne's specialist drilling department focused on providing water well, geothermal and other specialist solutions.