GEOSCIENCES AND ENERGY: COMPLEX PROBLEMS, INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS, REAL WORLD IMPACTS

Today, around 85% of primary global energy comes from fossil fuels; 5% from nuclear involving mining of uranium and thorium; 7% from hydro involving concrete and metals; and the remaining 3% from renewables including, in order of abundance, biofuels of various kinds (mostly wood) involving fertilizers and water, and wind, solar, waves, and tides involving metals and rare earth elements. Global demand for energy continues to grow with population and industrialization, but the rate of energy-demand growth is slowing mostly because of improvements in energy efficiency and education. Energy production, delivery, and consumption occur on a scale that is difficult to fathom, but contrary to some reports, we are not running out of energy resources, including fossil fuels, thus requiring a switch in energy sources. Rather, changes in the energy mix are mostly a function of demand, which is driven by energy security—the affordability, availability, reliability, and environmental sustainability of the source. No source of energy is perfect, including in environmental impact. In global energy, geosciences weigh heavily, from resource discovery and extraction to environmental impact including land, water, local air, and atmosphere. I will discuss four major research programs that I have been involved with conceiving, funding, designing, implementing, and helping to lead. Combined, they represent over $120 million of research to date and include carbon capture, utilization, and storage (Gulf Coast Carbon Center); interwell nanosensors for reservoir interrogation (Advanced Energy Consortium); shale gas and shale oil production and reserve scenarios (Sloan Foundation Shale Research and Tight Oil Resource Assessment); and natural and induced earthquake studies (Center for Integrated Seismicity Research and TexNet). Although each of these programs has unique characteristics, they also share several things in common. They all

• involve complex, multivariate, often nonlinear subsurface rock/fluid systems;

• engage multidisciplinary teams of scientists, engineers, and often economists;

• require academe, industry, governments, and NGOs to work together and share data and insights;

• impact global energy security; and

• have political, economic, and public perception challenges, both real and contrived.