Decarbonisation of the Petroleum Industry and its Role in Energy Transition

Energy Transition & Clean Road Transport

June 2021

Brought to you by Durham Energy Institute, the month of June covers two of the five priorities from the UN Climate Change Conference in 2021; Energy Transition and Clean Road Transport.

Durham academics and industry partners will provide a series of seminars and panel events looking at current research to support the global transition to Net Zero and the domestic decision to move away from thermal vehicles in 2035.

Professor Jon Gluyas (DEI Executive Director & Ørsted/Ikon Chair in Geoenergy Carbon Capture & Storage)

Dr Alison Auld (Specialist in Carbon Reduction, Energy and Industry, Scottish Environment Agency)

The UK has benefitted enormously from the discovery of gas and then oil on its continental shelf in the 1960s.  Employment, energy security and the flood of income from taxation of petroleum production have kept the UK at the top table of global economic powers since the 1970s. 

Production of petroleum is declining and we have since 2004 been net importers of both oil and gas.  This coupled with the enforced demise of fossil fuel use to try to mitigate the climate change driven by emissions of carbon dioxide – the combustion product of fossil fuels – means that as things stand the North Sea industry is closing down.  The impact on employment, energy security and the UK tax payer as they foot the bill from abandonment costs is eye-watering. 

Need this be so?  What role can the North Sea industry play in the energy transition? 

We will examine the resources, skills and knowledge contained within the North Sea and its industry to offer a different future, one of high skill, high employment and low-carbon energy delivery.

Prof Gluyas is a geoscientist with 39 years in industry and academia. He specialises in geothermal energy, carbon capture use and storage (CCUS), helium exploration and human-induced seismicity and transitioning technology into commercial enterprises.

Dr Auld is a specialist in Carbon Reduction, Energy and Industry at Scottish Environment Protection Agency.  Prior to moving to Scotland Dr Auld was a senior engineer for the UK government working in Whitehall on innovation and providing technical support in the fields of unconventional oil and gas, geothermal energy and industrial waste heat recovery.

Register here.